Dark Legacies
by Imadork121
Summary: EDITED AND HOPEFULLY EASIER TO READ. They say you can't run from your past, but what if your past could destroy everything you care about? What if your past could destroy the world? When Dracula's past begins to catch up to him, he has to face it-or risk losing everything. First fanfic, go easy on me. Rating may go up. I do not own Hotel T.
1. Prologue

PROLOGUE  
"Just give me a reason, just a little bit's enough,  
Just a second we're not broken, just bent and we can learn to love again,  
It's in the stars, it's been written in the scars on our hearts., that we can learn to love again."  
-Pink, Just Give Me a Reason

All was quiet in the dark forest. Suddenly, without warning, a dark stallion thudded through the trees. It's rider was cloaked in black, complete with a hooded cape. The hooded figure kicked it's sides as they galloped along. The rider looked up to the sky. silver clouds covered the moon, but a bright red glow shined through. The figure cursed, and urged his horse to go faster.

Meanwhile, Lady Blackthorne huffed as her sister, Rosette, pushed her on.

"Push, Genievive, push! Vladislav will be back any minute, he'll be here soon!" Rosette pressed.

The rider reached the outside of a dark, foreboding looking castle, and lept off the horse. Pulling off his hood, he revealed himself as a tall, skinny man with a hooked nose, thin moustache, and shoulder length black hair. He tilted his head, faintly hearing the sound of a baby crying. His eyes widened and he rushed into the castle, ignoring the various zombies that looked at him quizzically.  
Rossete watched as Genivieve cradled her newborn son, the door was thrown open, and both women jumped. They relaxed when they saw the man.

"Am I too late?" He gasped.

"A little." Rossete deadpanned.

His shoulders slumped. "Genevieve, I'm so sorry."

"Hush Vlad! Come look at your son!" Genevieve said.

Vladislav, or Count Blackthorn, as he was commonly known, approached his wife's bed and gazed upon his son.

"He looks so much like you." Genevieve whispered.

"Unfortunately." Rosette giggled.

They glared at her, and the child began to cry.

"Shhhh, it's all right." Genevieve cooed.

"Can I-" Count Blackthorn hesitated. "Can I hold him?"

Genevieve smiled. "Of course love. Always." She handed him the boy. Count Blackthorn cradled the little baby in his arms, and felt a warm rush of love spread through him. He had a son. Nothing could be more beautiful then that. Then he looked at his wife. Okay, one thing could definately offer some compitition. Suddenly he felt sad.

"What's wrong, love?" Genevieve asked.

"I don't want him to live in fear." Count Blackthorn sighed. "We've been persecuted by humans for centuries. Not to mention-" He looked around. "You-know-who."

"I know." Genevieve sighed. "There is nothing we can do right now. But You-Know-Who wants you on his side. He wouldn't take interest in a barely born child."

"Unless he's mine." Count Blackthorn muttered. Genevieve looked downcast at this.

"Oh stop you two! This is supposed to be an happy moment! Nothing should ruin today." Rossete said.

BANG! Everyone jumped. There was loud banging and roars heard, and then there was silence.

"Stay here." Count Blackthorn hushed. He handed his son to Genevieve, unsheathed his sword, and crept toward the main door, pushing Rossete behind him.

WHOOSH! The doors flew open. The great Count Blackthorn was thrown to the side. Shadows crept into the room and encircled Genevieve, Rossete, and the baby, trapping them in a web of darkness. A figure rose up from the darkness and glared down at Count Blackthorn, red eyes blazing.  
"Guess who?" He sneered.

"Boogeyman." Count Blackthorn snarled.

"Count Blackthorn. It's time."

"No it's not. You will never have my allegiance. Never."

"Oh I wouldn't be so sure about that." The Boogeyman waved his hand, and his shadows swirled around Genevieve, her sister and child. "You know what the prophecy says." He looked out the door in which he had crashed through. Through the frame, you could see the window, and through the window, the moon was full, and bright red. "'On Blood moon's night, evil shall rise.' It is ti-"

The Boogeyman stopped when he heard a child crying. Genevieve discreetly shushed her son, but it was too late. The red eyes blazed in her direction.

"What do we have here?" he snarled. He sank through the floorboards and came up in front of the women. Rossete gasped. Genevieve clutched her son like a lifeline. The Boogeyman's eyes crept toward the infant and his eyes widened.

"A son!" He laughed. "So Count, you're a father now! Maybe.." The Boogeyman stared at his enemy's son greedily. "Maybe you aren't needed to me after all. A minion I'd raised from birth...now THAT'S guarunteed loyalty!"

"You're a monster." Genevieve said trembling.

"So are you, my dear. Now." The Boogeyman held out his hands. "The child."

"Never." Genevieve spat.

Behind the Boogeyman, Count Blackthorn found his sword. Running up to his enemy's head, he brought it down to his head. The Boogeyman whirled around, and shot a ball of fire at the Count. With his hand. Genevieve cried out. Rossete gasped as her sister's husband fell on the floor. The Boogeyman snatched the baby from Genevieve, though he had to fight her and Rossete for him. He won, and cradling the baby, he attempted to make his escape. He would have, but he felt a clawed hand clutch his leg.

"No." Count Blackthorn rasped. "I'll do anything!"

The Boogeyman froze. The child in his arms was crying, so his voice was barely audible when he spoke. "What?"

"I'll do anything you ask. Just please-not my little boy." The helpless Count sobbed.

The Boogeyman tilted his head back, thinking for a minute. Then he grinned, bearing his animalistic teeth. "Join me. And I will spare the boy, and your family."

Count Blackwood rose unsteadily. "Yes." He coughed. "I swear to join you."

The Boogeyman grinned. He strode over to Count Blackthorne. Then he reach into his chest and ripped out his heart. Genevieve screamed, but she and Rossete could not do anything. They could only watch as the Boogeyman towered over Count Blackthorne, red eyes blazing.

"You will be my minion." He said, still holding Count Blackthorne's heart. "You will never remember any compassion for your family ever again. Your only purpose is to serve me."

"No." Count Blackthorne murmured.

"Yes." The Boogeyman whispered, grinning.

Count Blackthorne stared into his enemy's eyes. "Yes..." He murmured, and collapsed behind a mahogany table, out of view from the women.

The Boogeyman strode over and handed the child to it's mother. The shadows trapping Genevieve and Rossete faded away. "You are safe for now, little one." He murmured. "But I will return for you."

Suddenly, there was a flash of black. Count Blackthorn was standing in front of the group.

"Vlad!" Genevieve gasped. But this man was not her husband. He was a tall, darker, more sinister version of the man that she had once loved. The two women were in shock, they couldn't move, much less do anything.

"What is your wish, my master?" Count Blackthorn hissed.

"Ah, my minion. I will call for you when I'm ready. For now, stay with your wife, her sister, and your son." The Boogeyman nodded at Count Blackthorn, who bowed. Then he strode out, ignoring the horrified women behind him.

"Vlad?" Genevieve questioned. Her husband, or what was left of him, whirled around and hit her in the face.  
Rossete gasped. Count Blackthorn, unlike many men, had never laid a finger on his wife. He loved her too much. But that love was gone, apparantly, and the Count glared down at Genevieve.

"Let me make this clear Genevieve." He snarled, and Rossete's stomach lurched. Her brother-in-law almost always called her sister by his pet name for her: Genny.

"You do not speak to me unless you are spoken to by me. You will do nothing unless approved by me first. Your only purpose to me is to take care of our son and to care for me. You will never talk back, leave my sight, or allow that child-" He nodded at the baby. "-to misbehave. Step out of line, and you will suffer. Do you understand?"

"I do." Genevieve choked on her sobs. "I do Vladislav."

Count Blackthorn smacked her across the face again. Rossete wanted to stop him, to smack him herself. But she knew her sister's husband was not himself. The real Count Blackthorn would have been horrified to learn he had smacked his wife.

"Do not call me Vladislav." He snarled. "To you, I am Count Blackthorn. Understood?"

Genevive nodded. Grumbling, he stalked out of the room.

"Henchman!" Count Blackthorn shouted. A plump looking zombie in a top hat trotted out eagerly, grinning at him with his decaying teeth. His name was Louie, and he loved Count Blackthorn like a son.

That is, until Count Blackthorn smacked Louie in the face. Whimpering, the zombie glanced up at him in shock.

"Stop staring you little wretch! Prepare my horse, I am taking a journey!" Louie nodded, still whimpering as he stared at his master in disbelief and limped off.

"I am taking a journey." Count Blackthorn declared. "To the soothsayer in Ireland. She will determine my son's gifts, and, more importantly, if he will be more powerful then me." And, without saying goodbye to Genevieve or Rossete, he was gone.

Genevieve weakly staggered out of her bed and collapsed on the ground, comforting her crying son. To Rossete's suprise, her sister wasn't crying.

"Sister, you must leave."

"No."

"Genny, he might harm you! Vladislav-he's changed!"

"I'm well aware of the change in my husband Rossete. I will stay, because-" Genevive's voice cracked. "I still love him."

Rossete didn't respond. In fact she was perfectly still. Genevive looked at her oddly.

"Sister?" Genevieve asked.

Rossete took a deep breath. "I understand."

Genevieve looked confused. "What?"

"Vladislav is not the one in the prophecy. Your son is."

Genevieve gasped. "What?! Have you-" She hesistated. She and her sister were vampires, but they came from a long line of fortune tellers and seers. The age-old gift had been passed down to chosen generations, and Rossete had been one of the chosen.

"I have...a feeling. It is only a feeling, but I will consult with the spirits tonight. But your son is the one. Of this, I am positive. He will either destroy the world and turn evil...or save it." Rossete kneeled next to her sister, blue eyes blazing.

"I don't understand."

"Neither do I. But the child has a special destiny. You need to keep hims safe Genny."

"Oh god, Rosy. You know I will." Genevieve sobbed.

"Now.." Rossete looked at the little baby. "what are you going to name him?"

"Vladislav, after his father." Genevieve whispered.

Rossete's eyes turned dark. "Genevieve.." She warned.

"I know Rosy." Genevieve sighed.

"At least give him a different last name. A secret one."

"Why would he need a secret last name?" Genevieve scoffed.

"What if you need to go into hiding? What if your husband threatens him? You'll need to change his last name, why not do it now? It'll save time." Rossete explained.

"Fine." Genevieve sighed. She thought for a moment. "I know." She said. "It'll be-"

"Don't tell me!" Rossete interrupted. "Don't tell anyone except the boy, when he gets older. Make sure he keeps it to himself, and make sure his father never knows."

"All right." Genevieve muttered. "Aren't you being overdramatic?"

Rossete glared at her. "I have a horrible sense about what's occured tonight Genevieve." Rossete said. "The most horrible sense...like when mother died..."

Genevieve's chest clenched. Her sister was not joking like she normally did. Rossete was dead serious.

"I know one thing for sure." Rossete continued. "You need to keep the boy safe. He's too important to let go of, or, even worse, to join his father in his new life of evil."

Genevieve nodded. "I believe you." She whispered.

Rossete stood up. "I will follow Count Blackthorn. Make sure he won't do anything bad. Or, if he does anything evil."

"Because you think he's evil now." Genevieve said bitterly.

"No." Rossete whispered. "I care about him too. But I'm afraid he's gone. You know how the Boogeyman is."

Genevieve softened, both in tone and manner. She did not speak, but she nodded. Rossete left her sister and nephew without speaking.  
The little boy let out a whimper. Genevieve cradled him. "Shhh, Vladdie." She whispered. She gazed upon him for a minute. The baby looked up at her, sniffing. Her heart broke at that moment, and that was when she finally started to sob.

"Your auntie's right." Genevieve sobbed. "Your father is gone. You-you will not grow up knowing the man I loved. I'm so sorry, my little honeybat." She sobbed harder. Little Vlad looked up at his mother, blue eyes round. He softly touched her face. His mother looked down at him startled. Then, he smiled.

Genevieve smiled back, through her tears. "Oh my sweet." She kissed him on the forehead. "Your last name will be my mother's. It will be our secret. Daddy will not know. He won't know he loves you for a long time. But I know, he will always love you, deep down inside his shattered, undead heart." She paused for a second. "You'll meet your real father someday. I promise."  
Vlad chirped, waving his little hands. Genevieve laughed, and became lost in thought, nuzzling her face a tuft of her son's pitch-black hair. Just like his father's.

"Vladislav Dracula does have a nice ring to it...your Grandma Dracula would definitely approve."

A/N- Do I have you going all like, whaaaaat? I haven't read the original Dracula novel (yet), but I know the story, and it totally doesn't fit with the Dracula of Hotel T. So I'm making my own origin story for him and the other monsters.


	2. Concert and a Seer

CHAPTER ONE  
"Here we are again, I feel the chemicals kicking in,  
It's getting heavy and I wanna run and hide, I wanna run and hide.'  
-Neon Trees, Animal

"Johnny, this is amazing." Mavis whispered as she leaned her head on her boyfriend's shoulder.

"Yeah..." Johnathan grinned as his arm encircled Mavis. Far in front of them, the stage was surrounded by screaming fansas the lead singer sang out the lyrics to his song.

_"Oh, my girl smells so sweet,_  
_Especially as I pull her close to me._  
_As I pull her in, we share a kiss,_  
_A kiss I'd rather die then to miss."_

"This is pretty amazing." Johnathon planted a kiss on top of Mavis's head. "The last time I was here, this guy threw a shoe at the main singer, but he accidently hit me instead, and I was like, hey dude, not cool, but then he tried to stab me with a banana, so the security dudes dragged him out..."

Mavis sighed. She loved Johnny so much, but his nonsensical drabble seemed almost endless. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a bright star whiz across the sky.

"Look, a shooting star." Mavis said, hoping to distract her boyfriend. "Make a wish sweetie."

"What do I need to wish for?" Johnathon, grinned at a beaming Mavis. They leaned in about to kiss, but out of nowhere, a hooded man knocked the couple over and sent both of them to the ground.

"Hey!" Johnathon helped Mavis up and glared at the man's retreating back. "Not cool man!" He yelled.

Mavis looked annoyed. "What a jerk! What's his hurry anyway?"

"Yeah!" Johnathon glowered at the ground. Then something caught his attention. "Oooo, popcorn." Jonathon wandered off, followed by Mavis, who was silently wondering about her boyfriend's attention span.

"Are you going to get popcorn?" Mavis asked.

"Yeah..." Jonathon rummaged through his pockets and stopped. He began to frantically empty out his pockets.

"What's wrong? Did you lose something?" Mavis said worriedly.

"My wallet's gone!" Jonathon cried.

"What?" Mavis's eyes narrowed. "The guy who bumped into us! He must've taken it!"

Jonathon groaned. "Dang it! That's the third time this month!"

Mavis used her vampire vision to scan the crowd until she saw the hooded figure.

"There!" Mavis yelled, and took off, dragging Jonathon behind her, who could barely keep up with her semi-super speed.

They followed the mysterious man out of the stadium and into the cold night. Weaving through the trees, Mavis was having a hard time keeping up with him. Finally, she saw him get in a car.

"Oh no you don't!" Mavis growled, and sped straight towards him, leaving Johnathon frantically trying to catch up with her.  
The girl sped toward the hooded figure, closer...closer...

She was almost on him when he suddenly opened the door and stepped back.

"Whoah!" Mavis yelped. Going too fast to stop at this point, she skidded into the car. The hooded man closed the door as soon as she was inside.

"Hey! You can't kidnap my girlfriend!" Johnathon yelled, running up to the man. "Put 'em up!" He waved his fists threatenly.

The hooded man just grabbed him and tossed him in next to Mavis.

"Let us go!" Mavis screamed as Johnathon banged on the window.

"Calm down child." A soothing voice floated from the front seat of the car. Mavis and Johnathon stopped making noise and turned to face her.  
She had short, wavy brown hair streaked with gray. Her dress looked like a witch's, long and purple and myserious-like. A green brooch decorated her neck, and her face, though streaked with wrinkles, was extremely pretty. But it was her eyes that gave both Mavis and Johnathon a sense of deja-vu. Where had they seen those eyes before?

The man got into the driver's seat, and moaned something unillegible to the woman.

"No Louie, you got the right ones." The woman said, not taking her eyes off Mavis. "She has her father's eyes."

Jonathon gasped. Mavis's eyes widened. "What do you know about my father?" Mavis asked worriedly.

"It's all right." The woman laughed. When she laughed, the couple behind her saw her glistening white fangs. They relaxed, but only a little in fear she was still a threat.

"I mean you no harm." The woman said. "My name is Rossete. This is Louie." The man next to her pulled down his hood and grinned at Mavis and Jonathon. They saw a sweet, portly looking zombie face.

"Arroooooh." Louie moaned.

"Hi." Mavis waved cautiously.

"Hit it Louie." Rossete ordered. Louie pressed his foot on the gas pedal and they took off.

"I apologize for the whole steal-Jonathon's-wallet thing." Rossete said. "I'm afraid it was the only way to get your attention. Especially since I need you to do something for me."

"Like what?" Johnathon asked.

Rossete's face darkened. "Mavis, just out of curiousity, how much has your father told you about his past?"

Mavis frowned. "Nothing much."

"Well what do you know?" Rossete pressed on.

"Well, when I asked, my father told me that his aunt raised him when his parents died. Oh! And she also adopted Uncle Frank when they were both teenagers, after Dr. Frankenstein was killed by an angry mob."

"You never told me that." Jonathon muttered.

"Sorry." Mavis apologized. "It's kinda a touchy subject for my dad. He doesn't like talking about his parents."

"Figures he would say that." Rossete muttered, utterly ignoring them both. "He was always a stubborn one."

"What?" Mavis stared at Rossete for a while.

"Nothing dear." Rossete showed her fangs again, but that turned into a frown again. Then she leaned close into the couple's faces, making them jump.

"Listen to me." Rossete commanded. "What I am about to tell you is extremely important. You must swear not to tell this information to random passerbys. Only to your close friends and family. The fate of not only all monsters is at stake here, but the fate of the world as we know it. Understood?"

Mavis and Johnathon exchanged glances. This was getting weird now.

"I am not just a vampire." Rossete continued. "I am a sorceress. I am a magician. But above all, I am a seer, and what I have recently seen is something that will either mark the beginning of a new world...or it will end it." She paused, and continued. "Do you swear to guard this information with your life?"

Not wanting to get on the lady's nerves, Johnathon nodded quickly. So did Mavis.

"Good. Now listen closely." Rossete's eyes never left the couple. "Mavis, your father is in grave danger."

Jonathon snorted. "Drac? No way!"

"We're talking about my father, right? The great Count Dracula?" Mavis asked, not believing Rossete for a second. "Ma'am, I'm totally taking you seriously, but you do know who my father is, right? After the stories I've heard from Uncle Frank and Uncle Murray, I don't think my father is totally helpless." Mavis tried to put it as gently as she could, but Rossete's face still looked angry.

"Of course. I never said Dracula was helpless! In fact, he's the opposite! But I'm telling you the truth. Count Dracula, however great he may be, is in such grave peril that his entire hotel is at risk."

"The entire...hotel?" Mavis whispered, now starting to take Rossete seriously. "But-does that mean everyone IN the hotel is in danger? Uncle Frank, Uncle Wayne and Aunt Wanda, Uncle Murray and Uncle Griffith, all the werewolf kids, everybody? And Dad..." Mavis trailed off, thinking of all her loved ones in her father's hotel.

"Everybody." Rossete whispered. Johnathon's jaw dropped. Mavis felt more scared then she ever had in her entire 118 years of living. If this lady was for real...Mavis didn't even want to think about it.

"That's why I need your help." Rossete said. "Dracula is the only one who can stop the invasion-"

"Invasion?!" Mavis cried.

"Calm down child! Yes, our enemy will come and invade your father's hotel, on the night of Halloween, three days before the Blood Moon. The Blood Moon only happens every four hundred years or so, and it is the night that all vampires are the most powerful. It is declared that that will be the night that Dracula will overthrow the greatest enemy of monsters and humans alike, ending a powerful curse that has kept humans and monsters apart for thousands of years. Hotel Transylvania, on the night of Halloween, will be occupiedby almost every monster in the world. And that is where our enemy will strike."

"Woah." Jonathon said numbly.

"Indeed."

"But why do you need our help?" Mavis asked. "Halloween's in a week! If you know this, why can't you come and warn Dad  
about the invasion?"

"I am...not welcome." Rossete said bitterly. "I don't think your father even wanted you to meet me. I don't think he'll believe me if I told him about this myself. That's where you two come in. You must go to the Hotel, warn Dracula, and gather all the monsters there and prepare them for war. You are Dracula's beloved daughter, Mavis. He should listen to you."

"Why wouldn't he listen to you?" Johnathon asked.

Rossete paused. It felt like forever when she finally answered, and when she did, she had tears in her eyes. "Dracula..." She began. "Is more scarred than both of you know. What is coming will put him through an nightmare he never wanted to ever come. He knew it was coming, but he may not choose to believe it. Here." She pulled out a thick envelope with Dracula's name written in wavyhandwriting. "Give this to him. It will...remind him what's at stake. It will also offer you a guide to what's going on."

Mavis took the envelope, thinking about what Rossete had just said.

"Who's the enemy?" Jonathon broke the silence. "I mean, who's plotting the invasion?"

"Dracula will know." Rossete answered firmly.

Suddenly, the car swerved. Louie started moaning frantically. Rossete cursed under her breath.

"We're out of time!" She cried. "He's already trying to stop us!"

"Who?" Mavis gasped.

"I can't explain any more! You need to go, now!"

"But my backpack!" Johnathon cried.

"It's either your backpack or the world! You must leave!" Rossete rummaged through her pockets and pulled out some pink, glittery dust. "Good luck!" Rossete cried, and blew the dust on the couple. Neither of them had time to say anything before the dust swirled around them, dissapearing them from view, until they vanished.

Louie moaned. Rossete took a deep breath, knowing her enemy had gone. As soon as Mavis and Johnathon had gone. That worried her deeply.  
"Oh Vladdie." She murmured. "Why have you kept your past a secret? I mean, I know why, but...why?"

A/N-Okay, new chapter. I hope this is easier to read then the last one, I don't know why the last chapter looked all weird. Thanks to MegsyJ98 for being so sweet and my first reviewer! I hope you all liked the added Mavis and Johnny fluff, I had to add it! And btw, I know it's a little confusing, but bear with me people!


	3. 367 years

CHAPTER TWO-THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SEVEN YEARS  
"I, I can't get these memories out of my mind,  
And some kind of madness has started to evolve,  
I, I tried so hard to let you go, but some kind of madness is swallowing me whole."  
-Muse, Madness

"Vladislav Blackthorne the Second." The judge boomed. "You have been accused of witchcraft by Vladislav Blackthorne the First, and by the good people of Salem. The verdict finds you guilty of all charges, including the murder of several young children, and punishment will include immediate, and painful execution!"

Dracula gasped as he bolted up and immediately hit his head on the coffin lid. "Ouch!" He rubbed the growing knot on his head as he pushed up his coffin lid. "I really need to leave the lid up at night." Dracula muttered.

Slowly, the Count got up, at with a flick of his wrist, he was dressed and cleaned up. Yawning, he tried to get the memory of that nightmare out of his head for good. His nightmares were getting more and more frequent as Halloween approached, and each one seemed to be about his childhood...

Which was in the past! Dracula forcefully reprimanded himself. 'Your past is gone, it will never come back to haunt you, he  
doesn't know who you are, so stop and shut up right now!' Dracula took a deep breath and headed to the lobby. 'Put it all out of your  
mind.' He told himself.

"Marco!"

"Polo!"

"Marco!"

"Polo!"

"Frank, Drac's gonna be mad! You know he doesn't like Marco Polo in the lobby! It drives him batty! No pun intended." Eunice crossed her arms.

"Marco!"

"Polo!" Wayne yelled, and ran past Frank.

"Who just ran past me?" Eyes still closed, Frank waved his arms frantically at Wayne, who was several feet away. "Marco!"

"Polo!"

"Polo!"

"Polo!"

"Polo!"

"Polo!" Each hydra head chimed in. A flying brain flew in teasing circles around Frank's head. The monsters snickered.

"I hear you buzzing Mr. Fly!" Frank yelled. "And I hear you rattling, Bones!" Both monsters snickered.

"Seriously dude, there's like a bunch of monsters here, and you still haven't caught anyone!" Murray teased.

"It's not my fault! I stink at this game!" Frank roared in Wanda's direction.

"Sweetie, Murray's over there." Wanda pointed.

"Where?" Frank whirled in multiple directions.

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU, NO MARCO POLO IN THE LOBBY!" Dracula roared, transforming from bat to human form. He saw his suit of armor, looking guilty. "REALLY? You too?"

"Aw, Drac, lighten up man!" Murray said sheepishly.

"Yeah, Drac, your birthday's in a few days! Have some fun!" Griffith agreed.

"A week." Dracula corrected.

"The big four-fifty!" Frank grinned, eyes still closed. "Can I open my eyes now?"

"Nope." Griffith said.

"Yes." Dracula glared at Griffith. Frank opened his eyes.

"Mail call for Mister Dracula!" A witch sped through the lobby, dropping a few letters in Dracula's hands.

"Thank you Hattie!" Dracula skimmed through his mail.

"Hey look! That one's from Aunt Rosy!" Frank pointed at an envelope. Dracula's stomach lurched nervously.

"Read it aloud!" Eunice said.

"I'll-do it later." Dracula said quickly.

"Afraid she wrote something embarrassing, are we?" Griffith said micheviously.

"Shuddap." Dracula ignored the snickers as he came across a floral postcard. The snickers died down as Dracula's face softened. Dracula flipped it over and saw Mavis's familiar handwriting.

"Aw Drac, you know she's coming back for your birthday." Frank said softly.

"It's been a month Frank. I even miss Johnathon, that's how much I miss her. I wish she was here right now."

Suddenly, a cloud of purple smoke filled the front door of the Hotel. The monsters whirled around, startled. The smoke cleared, and Mavis and Johnathon fell out.

"Holy rabies!" Mavis gasped.

A stunned silence filled the air. "Huh." Griffth said.

"Mavy-wavy!" Dracula enveloped Mavis in a full-cape hug. "My little mouse! I can't believe you're here! And you're early!"

"Johnny! Good to see ya man!" Murray gave Johnathon a knucklehead.

"Long time no see guys!"

"How was Hawaii?"

"Did any humans try to harm you?"

"Dad! We REALLY need to talk to you!" Mavis cried from her father's arms.

"What?" Suddenly Dracula looked serious. He held Mavis out in front of him. "What's wrong? Did something happen? Are you hurt? What's wrong?"

"Drac, there's supposed to be an invasion on Halloween night! I can't remember the details, but some lady told us that an enemy is going to invade the hotel, and everyone's in danger, and there's a prophecy and scars and everything!" Johnathon babbled without taking a breath. There was a deathly silence.

"A what?!"

"An invasion! He said there's going to be an invasion!"

"Everyone's in danger?"

"I'm getting outta here!"

"Everyone calm down!" Frank roared. Everyone grew silent. Frank looked at Johnathon.

"What's this about an invasion?" He asked seriously.

"Dad, we need to talk in private, Johnny and I will explain, okay guys? Okay dad-Dad?"

Dracula had gone extremely pale, and his breath came out in short gasps. Everyone stared at him nervously. It was the first time they had ever seen Dracula look scared.

"Meeting." Dracula said. "Bar. Now."

"The time approaches."

Lord Blackthorne gazed at his master's face in the crystal ball. The Boogeyman continued.

"The Blood Moon is approaching rapidly. We must strike quickly, on Halloween, when all monsters are in one place."

"What place would that be my master?" Lord Blackthorne hissed.

"Hotel Transylvania." The Boogeyman snarled. "Dracula is the manager there."

"How convenient!" Lord Blackthorne laughed. "He is the only thing that could stand in our way. I shall lead the invasion, and kill him myself."

"See that you do." The Boogeyman hissed, and his image faded.

Lord Blackthorne strode to the window of his tower and gazed down.

"Three hundred and sixty-seven years of hiding." Lord Blackthorne murmured. "It all comes down to this. All I need to do is kill the possible decendant of my treacherous wife." His face contorted into a snarl.

"I do not need a heart Genevieve." He snarled. "I just need power. And I will get power as soon as I kill this Dracula. He has become more known than me. He may be more powerful then I am. He may stand in my way. He swept away from the window, and strode to his spellbook.

"Three hundred and sixty-seven years." Lord Blackthorne snarled. "You stole my son Genevieve. He could be by my side right now, safe. But you turned him against me, and I had to kill him. Three hundred and sixty-seven years. I will gain power. And the curse will prosper, even if I have to kill every single monster in existence. I'm coming, Dracula. I'm coming for your blood."

A/N-Ack! Okay, I apologize for posting the prologue twice. I've been having major uploading issues. Plus I suck with computers. XP I decided to post two chapters to make up for it. Thank you for reviewing!


	4. Blackthorne's Son

CHAPTER 3-BLACKTHORNE'S SON  
"I don't wanna lose you now, I'm looking right at the other half of me,  
The vacancy that sat in my heart, is the place that now you hold."  
-Justin Timberlake, Mirrors

Mavis and Johnathon explained as best as they could. They, along with Dracula, Frank, Wayne, Wanda, Griffth, Eunice, Murray, the suit of armor, and a few chosen zombies listened. They started at the concert, and ended with the lady teleporting them to the hotel. They left out what she had said about Dracula, that he was more scarred then they all knew, etcetera, and they didn't say the lady's name. The didn't do it on purpose. When they tried to say it, her name slipped from thier memories, and they couldn't recall what it was. The same was with the zombie she was with. For some reason, they just couldn't remember.

"So there's gonna be an invasion?" Murray whispered. "We're all in danger?"

"Oh my." Wanda covered her mouth with her paw, and Wayne put his arm around her shoulders comfortingly.

"What do we do?" Griffith asked.  
"Drac?" They all turned to Frank, who was looking at Dracula worriedly. "Are you all right?" They turned back to Dracula, and froze. Dracula looked like he was about to faint.

"Dad? Are you okay?" Mavis's voice jerked her father out of his thoughts. Dracula tried to think fast.

As soon as Johnathon had mentioned an invasion, Dracula knew what was coming. He knew the Blood Moon was near, as it did every four-hundred-and-fifty years. He had been desperately preparing for this moment, casting protection spells around the perimeter of the hotel, studying the routes of the underground tunnels. But he knew it wasn't enough.

'I haven't prepared them!' He wanted to scream. 'They don't know! They don't know I'm the one who could be responsible for the end of the world, the end of thier lives, the end in general! They don't know! Please don't let this happen!' But another thought made him even more terrified. 'Does he know?' If HE knew Dracula's true identity, if anyone knew besides his aunt, everyone that Dracula cared about might as well die right then and there.  
At the same time, Dracula was angry. His life was finally decent. He had a daughter, friends he cared about. He was the owner of a five-steak hotel. He had everything he ever wanted, a normal life, a family, friends. Despite Martha being dead...well, he could never forget Martha, never have anything like Martha ever again, but he was still happy. He could finally forget about his past that had haunted him for years. Now, that was shattering around him. And Mavis-all Dracula's bravado collapsed at the thought of Mavis. He just couldn't lose her. She was his only family left, besides his aunt. She was the only thing he was sure he loved.

Dracula knew what was coming. He wished he didn't, as Mavis stared at him.

"Dad?" She repeated.

"Sir?" The suit of armor asked.

"I-" Dracula recomposed himself. "I am fine, honey." He knew what to say, a plan was forming in his mind.

"Who's this enemy she was talking about?" Johnathon asked. "The lady said you would know."

"Johnathon, I think I know who the woman is." Dracula said the name that first came to his mind. "Her name is Desmona, and she is an age-old friend of mine, but honestly, she is a bit crazy. You must not take anything she says too seriously. She's been saying stuff like this since I've known her. It is probably nothing." Dracula avoided Frank's eyes. They had grown up together, they knew when the other was lying. "I will investigate, of course, but I doubt we are in serious danger. I will also talk to Desmona and see if she really had a vision of the future, or if she's confused. She normally is, but I'll make sure."

Mavis frowned. "I don't think her name was Desmona."

"It is, honeybat." Dracula was lying through his fangs and he knew it. He did know who the woman was, but he would never say it aloud. "I'll tell the others not to worry. I am glad you are here. Let's go in the pool or something."

"Hang on Drac." Johnathon interrupted. "I'm with Mavis, I don't think her name was Desmona."

"It was!" Everyone jumped. Dracula tried to lower his tone. "Sorry, but yes, it was."

"Well, 'Desmona' said, and I quote, that you 'know what's coming, and may choose not to accept it.'" Mavis made quoting fingers as she talked. "She said to give you this." Mavis pulled out the thick envelope. Dracula took it, and used his pinky claw to tear it open. The first thing he pulled out was a yellowing piece of paper, as soon as he saw what was on it, he froze. Dracula turned a new shade of pale, pupils dialating, hands trembling, and his breathing turned heavy. As he stared at the picture, images flashed before his eyes.

_"Mommy!"_  
_"Go Vladdie! Run!"_  
_"Mommy no!"_  
_"I love you Vladdie." Tears leaked from his mother's face. "I love you so much."_  
_Flames filled his vision, and a loud gunshot rang out..._

"Dracula!"

At the sound of Johnathon's voice, Dracula roared and swiped. Johnathon fell back, startled. Slowly, Dracula faded to the present. He was standing up, fangs and claws fully extended. Johnathon was on his back, looking at him with wide eyes. Mavis looked horrified, and the rest of his friends looked outright shocked.

Dracula threw down the paper and tucked the rest of the envelope under his cape.

"Stay out of this." He said cooly. "Stay out. Let me handle this. Just stay away."

And with that, Dracula dashed out wrapping his cape around himself, shielding himself from his past, praying, hoping that they would listen, so that he wouldn't lose them too.

Johnathon was helped up by Griffth as Mavis picked up the paper her father had discarded. They were quiet. Finally, the suit of armor broke the silence.

"I'll go...see if he's all right."

"Leave him alone." Wayne said angrily. "That's what he told us. To stay away."

"I don't think he meant to stay away from him." Johnathon said quietly.

"Well, what did he mean then?" Wayne demanded.

"Sweetie.." Wanda put her hand on his shoulder.

"I think he meant, stay away from the invasion thing." Johnathon replied, sending Wayne into silence.

"So now what?" Murray asked. "We can't just forget about this."

"Guys. Look at this." Mavis said. The others gathered around her, looking at the poster she held in her hands.

The paper was obviously a wanted poster, depicting a young boy that looked barely older then Winnie, Wayne and Wanda's youngest. Beneath it, the words were fading, but were still illegible:

**WANTED: Vladislav Blackthorne the Second. **  
**Accused of: witchcraft and the murder of innocents, **  
**Accused by: the good people of Salem, and Vladislav Blackthorne the First.**

"Salem?!" Griffith gasped. "Oh man, that place was bad news."

"Why?" Mavis asked.

"The Salem witch trials." Griffith explained. "That's what they were called, but more then witches were accused. There were vampires, werewolves, all kinds of monsters were executed because of 'witchcraft'. It was one of the worst parts of monster history. Not only adults were killed, but children too. It was a big factor for the hatred between monsters and humans."

"It was a bloody and terrible time." Wanda agreed. "That's why you can't find many monsters in America. They were all too afraid to come there."

"Hey! I know that kid!" Johnathon said.

"You do?" Mavis asked looking at her boyfriend.

Johnathon's eyes softened. "Yeah. There's a whole story behind him. It's really sad."

"Well, tell us!" Eunice said impatiently.

"They call him Blackthorne's Son. According to legend, he had some pretty crazy powers that no one could understand. His father was called Count Blackthorne, and he abused the boy and his mother. To get away from his father, they fled to Salem. But Count Blackthorne followed them, and became a preacher there. Preachers had a lot of influence back then. He accused the boy of witchcraft as revenge. He shot his own wife and arrested his son." Johnathon tapped the boy's picture. "He supposedly got his own son executed, and when he did, he vanished without a trace."

"That's horrible!" Mavis cried. "How could someone do that?"

"That 's not all." Johnathon said. "He accused a couple other guys of witchcraft and got them executed too. Just because they stood up for Blackthorne's son. Then, he told his followers to immediately execute anyone who displays strange powers and is a newcomer. Then he left. So Blackthorne was the reason all those people were executed for witchcraft."

"So the guy murdered his own son, his own wife, and whoever stood in his way." Murray said disgustedly.

"Actually, Count Blackthorne's part of monster history." Frank said. "Aunt Rosy told me that he was a traitorous vampire  
that wanted his son dead because his son was more powerful than him."

"What a horrible father. That poor little boy!" Wanda said.

"Totally." Griffith agreed. "But why did she want to give Drac this?"

Mavis frowned. "The lady, and I'm not calling her Desmona, said to give this to him to remind him what he's fighting for."

"That doesn't make sense." Eunice complained.

"What else do we know about Blackthorne?" Griffith asked. Judging by the frantically pacing glasses, they could tell Griffith was trying to work things out.

"Aunt Rosy also said Count Blackthorne was the most evil vampire that ever lived." Frank said quietly. "Johnny, what  
happened to him in the legend?"

"Like I said, he vanished without a trace." Johnathon said slowly. "Maybe..." His eyes widened. "Maybe he's still alive!"

"And maybe he has something to do with the invasion!" Mavis added, a strange mixture of excitement and horror filling  
through her.

"Well that's fine and dandy." Wayne said irritated. "But what does this have to do with Dracula?"

"Research!" Griffith said.

"Good idea! Maybe there's something in the library's archives!" Mavis said.

"I'll get out my laptop!" Johnathon cried, and they all dashed in seperate directions, leaving the suit of armor behind.

"So...what do I do?" He murmured.

A/N-Another chappie! Am I boring you with the author's notes? Tee-hee. Please review!


	5. Fear Filled

CHAPTER 4-FEAR-FILLED  
"Who do you think you are? Running 'round leaving scars,  
Collecting your jar of hearts, tearing love apart,  
You're gonna catch a cold, from the ice inside your soul, so don't come back for me,  
Who do you think you are?"  
-Christina Perri, Jar of Hearts

After announcing to his guests his Desmona explanation, Dracula left a note for his friends and took an unexcused leave of absence. Flying through the starry sky, Dracula thought about how he had freaked out in front of his friends. He felt bad about attacking Johnathon and yelling at his friends and daughter, but he couldn't help it. He couldn't help his past. That's one thing he learned a long time ago, that you couldn't change who you are and where you came from.

_'You'll be just like me someday.'_

Dracula nearly crashed as soon as he heard the voice whisper in the back of his head. Breathing heavily, he flapped his wings as hard as he could, trying to concentrate on flying.

_'Vladdie run!"_

"STOP IT!" Dracula screamed aloud at himself, but it was too late, and the flashback hit him hard:

_Little Vlad giggled as his mother tickled him. He thrashed, but he was happy, because his mother was happy, and not sad like she normally was, like when his father was home. But Father had gone on a three-day trip, and they had the house to themselves._

_"Mommy stop!" Vlad giggled._

_"Tickle tickle, my little blood orange!" Mother laughed, and Vlad was even more happy. His mother had such a nice laugh. He loved his mother more than anyone in the world, with all his little undead heart. But thier happiness was gone as soon as Louie came rushing in, moaning frantically._  
_Mother's grin faded and the frown was back. "Go to bed Vladdie." She said. "I'll be there soon."_

_Vlad stopped laughing. "But mommy-" _

_"Go Vladislav." Mother commanded, and her voice was so hard Vlad had no choice but to behave. He ran in the direction of his room, but stopped at the top of the stairwell, and hid behind the banister. That what he always did, in case Father was in a bad mood and wanted to hurt Mommy. If he did, Vlad would defend her, and save her from Father's wrath. But Mommy normally behaved for Father, because she did not want to be beaten._

_"Hello, Count Blackthorne." Mother greeted her husband. "How was your trip?" She took his coat. Louie groaned in a greeting sort of way._

_"Fine." Father grumbled. Uh oh. Father sounded grumpy. Vlad crouched, ready to leap to Mommy's defense. "Where is my son?" he asked. Vlad's stomach contorted in fear. Father was looking for him? Why?_

_"He's in bed." Mommy said._

_"That's fine." Count Blackthorne headed in direction of the stairs._

_"What's fine?" Mommy stood in front of him, blocking his path. No Mommy! Don't get in front of him! Vlad wanted to tell her. He could hurt you Mommy! Move!_

_"Get out of my way woman!" Count Blackthorne snarled._

_"What do you want with Vlad?" Mommy demanded. "You never seemed to care for him before!"_

_"I said, get out of the way!" Count Blackthorne punched his wife so hard, she was thrown to the ground. Mommy collapsed, and Count Blackthorne kicked her in the ribs._

_Vlad ran down the staircase, and yanked at his father's coat as hard as he could. It didn't do much, as Vlad was only a small boy kicking, pulling, and beating at his father with his tiny fists, screaming let mommy go, and to leave her alone. Father looked down at his screaming son, and struck him across the face._  
_Vlad tumbled to the floor. Father unsheathed his sword and walked calmly towards him. Vlad froze, he saw the sword, he thought frantically Father wouldn't kill me, Father wouldn't kill me, he wouldn't, he wouldn't. Vlad was young, but he knew death all too well, much too well for a boy his age. He knew Father meant to kill him._

_"Vladislav, no!" Then there was Mommy, tackling Father and spitting blood into his face to distract him from Vlad, who saw_  
_Father pin Mommy down, sword raised, about to kill her, who felt rage rising deep inside of him, and he let it loose in one single scream of a scared little boy._  
_Vlad blinked. He had felt something buzzing in his hears when he screamed, and he saw Father unconscious on the ground,_

_Mommy struggling to get up. Then Mommy was hugging him, urging him to get up and run, run Vladdie run! It was only until they were_  
_out of the castle, Louie panting behind them, when Vlad dared ask a question._

_"Mommy, where are we going?" Vlad asked._

_"Away." Mommy panted. "Away from here. We'll be staying with Aunt Rosy tonight, and we'll leave in the morning." _

_As Vlad ran, he saw tears running down Mother's face, and it broke his heart. It broke his heart because Father had broken Mother's heart. Father had broken everyone's heart tonight._

Dracula didn't even realize he was falling until he realized he was falling. Panicked, he flapped his wings, but it was too late. He was already among tree branches. Dracula struggled to regain control as he fell, but he was trapped among branches, he couldn't move very well. Every time he tried, he just got more banged up. Finally, Dracula, hit his head on a very large branch, and toppled to the ground. As soon as he hit the dirt, Dracula saw stars, and then nothing.

Dracula woke up sore, bruised, and head throbbing. Sitting up, he saw he was lying in a shack near a roaring fire. Dracula turned his aching head the other way, and saw Rossete glaring at him.

"Desmona? Really?" She said.

Dracula groaned. "You saw that?"

"How could you do this? Your own daughter! And Frank-Frank'll be miserable when he finds out you lied! You're hurting them and you're hurting yourself if you do this much longer."

"You know I don't want them involved!"

"They're my family as much as yours! Mavis, my niece, and Frank my son-"

"Adopted son."

"Whatever! You know what you're doing is wrong!"

"I can't lose them Auntie!" Dracula's voice broke. "You know what he's like! He'll kill them!"

"You're going to lose them anyway if you don't fess up young man!"

"He killed my mother!" Dracula buried his face in his hands. Rossete's expression softened. "And he killed my sister Vlad." Rossete said softly. "You know that."

_Vlad._

No one had called him that in such a long time.

Dracula took a deep breath. "I know." He said quietly. "I know."

"What are you going to do know?" Rossete asked her nephew.

"I'm going to stop him before he gets to the hotel."

Rossete's face widened in alarm. "No! You know what the prophecy says!"

"Screw the prophecy! It's been hanging over my head since I was born! My loved ones are in danger, as you made it clear to my daughter, and I have to stop him!"

"You know trying to change the prophcey won't work!" Rossete shouted.

"I don't care!" Dracula snapped. Rossete's shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Fine." She said tiredly. "Go. It won't work. But please-stay here and rest for a while. Spend the night here. Please?"

Dracula wanted to argue, but the look on Rossete's face stopped him. So he nodded, and Rossete took a deep breath.

"I'm scared too Vlad." Rossete whispered. "But you can't let that cloud your judgement."

"It's not." Dracula muttered

"Oh yes it is. You know perfectly well what you have to do, but you're too scared. It's messing up your mind. You can't let that happen, Drac, there's too much at stake!" Rossete was silent for a moment. "You know what's coming. You can't do this to yourself. You're lying to yourself as well as your friends. I know this for a fact: You can't change the prophecy."

"But I can try." Dracula replied. "I won't let him touch my family."

"He will eventually."

"Not if I keep him away from the hotel."

"No Drac. You don't understand." Rossete clung to her nephew's hand and stared into his eyes. "You can lie to them all you want, keep him as far away from the hotel as possible, cast all the spells you want, heck, you could change the entire phropecy, butthere's no way you can keep his connection to you away from them much longer. He can still touch them."

"How?" Dracula demanded. Rossete didn't hesitate to answer.

"When the truth comes out, he can touch them through you."

A/N-Yikes, this is starting to get angsty. I'll try to tune it down. I'm just glad my computer isn't giving me trouble anymore.


	6. Hiding

CHAPTER 5-HIDING FROM HIMSELF  
"It's a thief in the night, to come and grab you  
It's a thief in the night that can consume you,  
A disease in the mind that can control you,  
I feel like a monster."  
-Rihanna, Disturbia

"Nothing." Griffith threw the papers down in disgust. The library gremlin, who was already jittery enough as it was, jumped.

"I can't believe out of over three hundred thousand books, none of them mention Blackthorne, Blackthorne's Son, or even the Salem witch trials!" Mavis said angrily. "Seriously!"

"W-w-well, we never had any books on Salem." The gremlin stammered.

"WHAT?!" Frank thundered.

"Why didn't you say that before?" Eunice complained.

"You didn't ask." The gremlin winced as Wayne lunged at him.

"Why don't you guys have any books on Salem? I thought Griffith said Salem was an imortant part of monster history?" Johnathon asked.

"I-i-it is." The gremlin explained. "M-m-m-master Dracula made sure there were no books on any of the witch trials that occurred there. He made s-sure there were no books on any witch t-trials actually."

"Whaaaat?" Murray looked confused.

"I told you he was hiding something!" Wayne growled.

"Maybe he has a reason?" Mavis said unsure herself. "Maybe..."

"Maybe what?" Griffith said angrily. "He knows more then he's willing to tell obviously. To tell to US, his closest friends!"

Johnathon was quiet for a moment, staring at the glow of his laptop. Mavis noticed.

"Johnny, are you okay?" She asked.

Johnathon looked at Frank. "Frank, how did Drac's parents die?" He asked quietly.

A silence fell on all of them as they realized what Johnathon was suggesting. Wayne and Griffith looked especially guilty.

"He doesn't talk about it..." Frank said slowly. "Neither did Aunt Rosy...It was a sensitive topic for both of them..."

"How bad could it have been?" Murray said, trying to sound cheerful.

"Bad." Johnathon turned his laptop to face his friends. Gory paintings depicting Witch Trial victims decorated the screen. And the paintings were drawn in such realism it made Mavis feel nauseous.

"How old is Drac?" Johnathon said.

"He'll be four-hundred fifty in a week." Mavis replied.

"That's about right." Frank muttered.

"My Ra." Murray murmured staring at the pictures on Johnathon's computer.

"And look." Johnathon pulled up another window. "I searched every legend online on Dracula's past and nothing came up. And what did, is totally wrong and goes against what we know now. It's like his past never existed, and he just sprung up out of nowhere."

"Do you think...what does it all add up to?" Mavis wondered.

Frank flipped through a book and frowned. "Look at this." His friends gathered around him.

"What is it?" Wanda asked.

"The Dracula family tree." Frank answered. "Look, some names are blacked out."

"Find Dracula." Griffith commanded.

"There." Frank pointed. "His parent's names are some of the ones blacked out."

Mavis studied the family tree and paled. "My name isn't Dracula."

"What?" All eyes were on her.

"Look at that. My grandmother's mother's maiden name was Dracula. My father's father's was probably something different."

"Unless the families married eachother." Johnathon pointed out. "People did that during that time."

"Vampires didn't." Mavis said. "It's against tradition."

"So let me get this straight. Dracula blocked out some names in his family tree, erased all records of his past, and took his mother's mother's last

name? Why?" Murray said.

"To forget his past?" Mavis suggested.

"No. He wouldn't go to all that effort." Frank denied.

"So Wayne was right. He must be hiding something." Griffith declared.

"Maybe he's not trying to hide anything from us." Everyone stared at the suit of armor, who hadn't spoken untill now.

"Then what is he trying to do?" Eunice demanded.

"Look, I'm a security guard. Always have been, always will be. I learned a long time ago, if you want to hide something, you hide it. How much you want to hide something depends on the situation. But what from I'm seeing here, Boss has apparantly erased his past. You don't do that unless you're desperate. So desperate, and the situation is so bad, that you're willing to go to all lengths to keep that secret and make sure no one will ever dig it up."

"Why would Dracula be desperate? He has a whole legion of armor guards, he can use magic, and he has us, good friends who could easily protect him and ourselves." Frank scoffed.

"Unless there's something he's afraid of." Mavis said, the armor's meaning slowly beginning to dawn on her.

"Exactly miss. Master Dracula is hiding something from you-"

"I thought you said he wasn't." Eunice said impatiently.

"Let me finish. When was the last time he severely lied to you?"

"When I met Johnny." Mavis said. "He tricked me with the fake village thing." Her body still went cold over that memory.

"And why did he do that?"

"He wanted to protect me from danger." Mavis replied.

"Exactly. I've been working with Master Dracula a long time, long enough to understand his motives." The suit of armor said. "And he's normally pretty darn honest, so the only reason he would lie-well, the only good reason he would lie is to protect the ones he is scared of losing."

There was a silence after he spoke. The armor continued. "I don't think he's trying to hurt you on purpose. There's a reason he's lying, and it's so obvious I can't believe you haven't realized it."

"And what is that, Mr. Smarty-Pants?" Eunice snapped.

"He's hiding."

"From...what, exactly?" Mavis asked, a bit scared of what he might say.

"What does Dracula, THE Dracula, need to hide from?" Johnathon wondered aloud.

The armor shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. But from what I've seen, maybe Master Dracula is hiding-well, maybe he's hiding from himself."

Count Blackthorne watched as shadows swirled around his crystal ball. Finally, slowly, his master's face appeared. He bowed, cape sweeping around him.

"The invasion is almost ready, master." He murmured. "Dracula will die soon enough."

Count Blackthorne thought his master would be pleased by this, but the Boogeyman frowned.

"You have failed me, Blackthorne." He boomed.

"What?" Blackthorne looked startled. "When could I have failed you?"

"You have not completed the task of murdering you son."

Thick silence filled the air. Blackthorne snorted. "Of course I did!"

"Do not deny me!" The Boogeyman snarled. "Your son is alive. I should have seen this earlier."

"Explain."

"Dracula is not who we thought he was. The crystal ball's image faded until it was one of Rossete. She was talking with Dracula. There was no sound, but when she kissed Dracula on the cheek and gave him a hug, Blackthorne's face contorted with rage, shock, horror, and realization.

"Impossible!" He roared.

The crystal ball's image faded back to the Boogeyman. "I suppose you know what to do." He commented.

"I do Master." Blackthorne's face was grim. "This has made our task much harder."

"Indeed." Boogeyman boomed. "Dracula not only stands in our way, but he could unravel all of our plans."

"I understand, Master." Blackthorne murmured.

"Do not fail me again." The Boogeyman threatened, and his image faded.

Roaring in rage, Blackthorne smashed the crystal ball. He unsheathed his sword and glared at it.

"Pure silver." He muttered. "Hopefully enough to kill my son." He glared at the remains of the crystal ball. "Again!"

Dracula hugged his aunt, who was still trying to convince him not to go.

"This is a bad idea." Rossete scolded.

"What choice do I have?" Dracula responded.

"You do have a choice, a better one then this, as I've told you a gazillion times."

"Like what?"

"Well, you could go back to your hotel, tell your FRIENDS the truth, and prepare for war."

"I'm not putting them in danger Aunt Rosy." Dracula said firmly.

"It's too late for that and you know it. You can't confront him now!"

"It'll be fine Auntie."

"No! Don't go!"

"I'M GOING!" Dracula's eyes lit up red and he snarled. Rossete jumped, dread coursing in her stomach. Her nephew had never, ever snarled at her like that.

Dracula's eyes faded back to blue and he blinked. His eyes widened as he realized what he had done.

"I'm going now." Dracula whispered and transformed into a bat. Rossete caught his wing as he turned to go.

"It's fine." She whispered.

"No it's not. Not until I end this." Dracula wrenched his wings out of his aunt's grasp and flew away as fast as he could.

A/N-I love all the nice reviews, but I think we can do much better then 6 reviews, don't you? Anyway, next chapter should be up soon.


	7. Alone

CHAPTER 6-ALONE  
"My shadow's the only one that walks beside me,  
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating,  
Sometimes I wish someone up there will find me,  
Until then, I walk alone."  
-Green Day, Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Dracula kicked down the door to his father's castle. Super-speed brought him up the stairs to his father's main tower...

And it was empty.

"No!" Dracula ran around the castle a few time, searching for anyone, anything. There was nothing. The castle was completely and utterly abandoned.

After a closer inspection, Dracula realized they had left only a few hours ago. No way to tell where Blackthorne had gone. "No!" Dracula kicked some shards of glass that he had no idea where it came from and didn't really want to know anyway.

Maybe he was already at the hotel...

No. Mavis had specifically said Halloween. But that was in three days. And another three days, it would be the Blood Moon,

the day the world might end. Six more days.

_'It will be all your fault.'_

The voices in his head were getting louder. Was Dracula going crazy? He hoped not. Insanity would not help his situation, as well as it being completely inconvinient for running a hotel.

The more and more he tried to stop the voices, the worse it became. So he relaxed. But another voice swirled around his mind, whispering in his ear.

_'You'll be alone.'_

Great. Now he was hearing Rossete's voice as well as his father's.

Dracula thought about how he had snarled at her. He didn't personally remember snarling at her, but he somehow knew he had. It made his body feel cold with fear. He was losing control over himself, over his anger. What if he hurt someone he cared about?

He already felt guilty enough, about snarling at Rossete, lying to his daughter about not only Dracula's heiritage, but her own. His relatives were her relatives too. And Frankie...Dracula felt like he was going to cry at the thought of Frank. The flesh golem was too tender hearted (literally) to take be able to take what was coming.

But again, that was why Dracula needed to tell them lies about everything. Until it was over. Then he could afford to tell the knowledge wouldn't hurt them as badly as it would now. The less they knew the less they would try to protect him...

Dracula felt the flashback coming before it even came. He tried to block it out but to no avail.

_Vlad shivered as he clutched his mother's cloak. He wrapped his own cloak around himself. The moon shone brightly in the night sky. As vampires, it was the only time they could travel or be outside. When daytime came, Vlad and his mother went down in the hull, and when nighttime came, they went up to the deck._

_The voyage was coming to an end, and Vlad was grateful. He was so bored on this dusty wooden ship. He couldn't fly around, he couldn't make things dance, he couldn't even light a fire to make himself warmer. He couldn't use his powers because he was a vampire, as Mommy explained, and the other passengers hated vampires. He didn't know why they hated vampires. It wasn't thier fault they were vampires and they were humans. Why couldn't he say what he was and not be feared?_

_As soon as the boat stopped, Vlad and his mother were on land. He ran circles around his mother, so happy to be free from that gloomy ship. A wooden sign welcomed them to the new land:_

_**'Welcome to Salem'**_

_Salem wasn't as pretty as Romania. It wasn't as green, it was more dry. The houses were all wooden and boring. The people looked mean, and all in black and white, and they glared at Vlad and his mother. There was even a hooded man hanging from his neck from a tree. Vlad couldn't see his face, but he did notice that the man wasn't moving. He hoped he was okay._

_"Dirty Romanians." A man muttered. "We might as well kill them now before they inflict thier witchery on us all."_

_Vlad heard them but ignored them. He was too happy to be away from his father. No more beatings, no more harsh words, no more gloomy castles and barred windows. He and his mother were free, free, free. Though Vlad would miss Louie, who had gone to stay with Aunt Rosy. But Aunt Rosy promised she would visit, and Louie would come with her. So Vlad was happy, happier then he had ever been in his lifetime. He was three in vampire years then, and he didn't want to see his father again._

Dracula smiled as that flashback faded. It wasn't as bad as the other ones, in fact, it was a happy one, but it made him feel hopeless as well, considering how his time in Salem had ended.

A sharp burn on his skin made him yelp and retreat. The sun was coming up. Dracula was stuck in his father's castle. Great.

Nevertheless, Dracula decided to spend the night, or rather, day here until he could fly back to the hotel. The journey would take all night, which stunk, but it was better then nothing. He could make a couple stops to rest, and possibly research on his father's weaknesses. Dracula was going to stop him, and the Boogeyman. Alone or not.

Evangeline knew when Master Blackthorne wanted something from her. And she didn't mind. Blackthorne had found her when she had lost everything, trained her, accepted her. She owed him everything. And she was happy to do it.

But not today. She was tired from a previous mission, her scar from that had not completely faded. Her wounds were tender, and still healing. Evangeline loved sucess, but she knew that pushing herself would do more harm then good. She should not go on her master's new assignment for her, she thought, as his face filled her crystal ball.

"Evangeline." Count Blackthorne boomed. "You look well."

"Not as much as you would think, master."

"Well, you must be. I have a new assignment for you. I was originally going to do it myself, but I realized you would be much more suited for the task I have in mind."

"Master-"

"Evangeline, would you like to hear the mission before you deny me and I rip out your heart?"

Evangeline winced. She was perfectly aware of Blackthorne's and the Boogeyman's tendencies to rip out peoples' hearts to make them thier slaves, but she never imagined Blackthorne would let that happen to her.

"Evangeline, I want you to complete a very important murder."

"Murder?"

"Yes, a murder. I want you to kill Dracula."

Kill Dracula.

The words made her stop and seethe, not in anger, but in raw excitement. She had always wanted to kill the Undead King himself. But not for pride. No, there was another, more personal reason. She wanted Dracula dead for her own reasons.

"Will you do it? Evangeline?"

"I will. I will do it, and enjoy doing it."

"What do you mean he hasn't returned yet?" Frank roared angrily to Helga, one of the witch maids.

"I don't know!" She replied angrily. "He just hasn't come back yet, I don't know why, but it's almost sunrise, so he's probably taking shelter somewhere."

"But we need to talk to him!" Mavis cried.

"Not my problem." Helga said. "I don't know where Master Dracula is, and as long as he's gone, us employees are taking a vacation." She turned to go but Mavis snatched her sleeve.

"Oh no you aren't." She hissed. "You're going to stay here and help us with the Halloween party in a few days. Since my father has taken a leave of absence, I'M in charge lady. And if you don't, I'll get my father to fire you immediately!"

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Darn right I would. Now GO!" Mavis threw the maid a couple feet and she tumbled on her broom and sped away.

"What do we do?" Johnathon asked nervously.

"We're going to throw the party. I'm guessing Dad'll be back by then." Mavis replied.

"Mavis, are you INSANE? The invasion's on Halloween, and-"

"I know that! I have a plan, and you're all going to go along with it!" Mavis snapped. She stood there for a minute, daring them to oppose her. None of them did.

"Fine." Griffith surrendered. "What's your plan?"

"First, we have to take charge of the hotel." Mavis began. Immediately she was met by objections.

"But that's Drac's forte! We don't know anything about running a hotel!" Murray said. "Do we?"

"No." Mavis admitted. "But we have to try."

A/N-Yup, Evangeline is another OC. She's actually pretty important to the story, maybe more then Rossete, actually. Anyway, enjoy, and review!


	8. Pathetic Attempts

CHAPTER 7-PATHETIC ATTEMPTS  
"There's a side, to you, that I never knew, never knew  
All the things, you'd say they were never true, never true,  
And the games, you'd play,  
You would always win, always win."  
-Adele, 'Set fire to the rain'

Turned out it, running a hotel was harder then Mavis and the others thought. It didn't help that most of the hotel workers had left because of Dracula's leave of absence, but most of the guests didn't. As a result, there was chaos.

"Frank, we need new towels in room 407!" Griffith shrieked.

"Can you take care of it? I have to unclog a toilet in room 214!"

"Johnny, we need those tables set up, stat!" Mavis ordered.

"Yes! I love those guys!" Johnathon ran off.

"Still need those towels Frank!"

"Here Griffith! Catch!" Murray tossed the towels and they landed in a bowl of punch Eunice was carrying.

"Augh! My hair! I'm sparking!" Eunice wailed as punch dripped all over her.

"Focus guys! We have less then 48 hours 'till Halloween!" Mavis yelled. "Where's Quasimodo? I need to know what kind of refreshments we should serve!"

"Dracula fired him after you and Johnny left!" Wanda replied. "He was replaced with a zombie chef."

"Fine, where's the zombie chef?"

"He left. But I can cook!" Wanda looked excited at this.

"Fine, do what you want! But we need to fill the buffet table!"

"Madam! We have an emergency!" The suit of armor ran up to Mavis frantically.

"What is it?"

"An overflowing bathtub in room 394."

"You've got to be kidding me." Mavis groaned. "Uncle Frank!"

"He's unclogging a toilet!" Griffith told her.

"Ugh!" Mavis looked like she was about to scream.

"I am SO gonna kill Drac when he comes back." Griffith muttered.  
************************************************** ************************************************** *****************************

Dracula decided to make a stop at an old pub about ten miles away from the hotel. Two days until Halloween. Five days untill the Blood Moon. And counting. As he picked at his steak (medium rare, of course) he rehearsed what he was going to say to his friends. Which was hard. What was he supposed to say? 'Hey guys, I kinda lied to you about everything about who I am, so you should probably go hide now, because my evil father's about to destroy the world for the Boogeyman and kill us all so the prophecy which I also lied about won't come true'? Yeah that'll go over well. Dracula just hoped the hotel wasn't blowing up this very moment.

Just as he was about to have a nervous breakdown, the waitress came up to him. She had long, bright red hair in a ponytail and a faint scar under her eye running down her cheek. It was barely noticable, but it was there.

"Are you doing okay? You don't seem to be enjoying your food very much!" The waitress chirped.

"Just fine, thank you." Dracula smiled, but not with his teeth. No need to freak out the waitress by showing his fangs.

"How old are you?" She asked suddenly.

Dracula frowned, a bit taken aback. "45." It was the first number he could think of.

"You look older."

Okay, now he was insulted. "Well than-"

"You look MUCH older." The waitress grinned, baring her fangs.

_Fangs?_

Last time he checked, waitresses did not have fangs. Not human waitresses, anyway.

Suddenly, Dracula recongnized her.

_Uh oh._

Dracula stood up. He rummaged around his pockets, pulled out some change and placed on the table. "I should probably go now." He said inching away.

The waitress smirked. "You didn't leave a tip sweetie." Dracula backed away from her as she began to go towards him.

"Sorry, don't have enough money." Dracula dodged her first blow and dashed past tables and a very angry man with a beard, out the door and into the night.

Dracula tapped into his super-speed and he began to go faster and faster. Blurs of color whizzed passed him. He smiled, thinking he had lost the waitress. But then he looked back, and there she was. Right next to him. Like she was about to tear his throat out. Her eyes blazed fiercely.

"Been a long time, Dracula." She smiled mischeviously. "But I've been hearing that that's not your real name."

Dracula swung his fist at her, a blow which she easily dodged.

"Slow down, hotshot." She purred. Suddenly, she stuck her foot out, tripping Dracula and leaving him sprawled across the ground, facefirst.

The waitress walked around him in slow circles. Every step left out a dash of red-hot fire, until she had herself and Dracula surrounded in a ring of fire. Dracula spat out a clump of sod, and stood up to face his attacker. They were now in the town square.

"Remember me, hotshot?" The waitress smirked.

"No need to use the nickname Evangeline. It's a bit sentimental, don't you agree?" Dracula snarled.

"You know I'm not sentimental hotshot. I'm just using it because it's true. You always did love playing with fire." Her smirk grew as Dracula seethed. His eyes were starting to grow red, and a faint glow began to merge around his fingertips. Then it died, and Dracula relaxed, red eyes fading.

"And you know I don't create fire anymore. It's too...destructive."

"You say that like it's a bad thing. But no matter. I'm afraid I have to kill you." Evangeline looked happy at the thought.

"How did you get tangled up with the Boogeyman? Let me guess. He ripped out your heart to make you his slave. Or did he do that a long time ago? That would explain a lot."That made her mad. Her eyes flashed, and a column of fire erupted around her.

"YOU were the one who ripped out my heart Dracula! You chose that idiotic, goody-two-shoes over me!"

"Don't you dare say that about my wife!" Dracula directed his magic towards a parked car and telekinetically flung it at Evangline. She nimbly leaped over it.

"You use magic like a girl, hotshot!" Evangeline called out. "Hey, don't you have a daughter? Mavis is it? Has she inheirited any of your powers?"

"Stay away from her!" Dracula flung the car at her again.

"And that sweet aunt of yours. What's her name? As well as the freak thing she adopted?"

"Frank is NOT a freak!"

"They're all gonna die, hotshot. Like your mother, and pretty little Martha-"

"ENOUGH!" Dracula swirled his cape around, and dissapeared down into the ground. Then he came up behind Evangeline and punched her in the stomach, sending her gasping to the ground. "What do you want?" He snarled. "What do you want Evangaline?"

"That's easy. You DEAD!" She snarled, while wheezing.

"Why? Revenge? Is that why you're working for the Boogeyman? I told you, I'm sorry I didn't love you. I loved Martha, I always have and I always will. But killing me, it won't make you feel complete!"

"Part of it's revenge, hotshot. I won't deny that." Evangeline replied. "But do you know how much I LOVE death?" Evangeline's eyes looked peaceful all of a sudden. "Life is a delicate thing, Vladislav. Even for vampires. Taking a human life-it's beautiful."

Dracula stared at her in shock. "It's horrifying!"

"To you, maybe. But for me, ridding a body of it's breath, shoving a dagger through a beating heart, feeling blood on my own hands, that's beautiful, to me. There is a beauty in taking a life, a feeling that makes you feel powerful, in control. I love chaos, especially when I am on top of it. The Boogeyman in charge of the world, I will be the one on top. And I will kill, I will kill all who stands in my way. And I will enjoy it so much."

When she finished, there was a look of pure horror in Dracula's face. "You've changed." He whispered.

"No." Evangeline said. "I've just given into my dark side. You could too."

"No!" Dracula snarled.

"Oh please. Time's running out. The curse that kept humans and monsters apart for so long is about to take it's next step. The darkness of the Earth will devour us all. 'Everything mortal will be destroyed, sucked into darkness's void.' That's the phrophecy, Dracula. You know it as well as I."

Evangeline stared at Dracula, who stared right back. He remembered the bright young woman whom he had befriended, and even developed a romance with. But she was not his zing. Martha was. And now Evangeline hated him for it. What had happened to her?

Evangeline pulled a knife from the insides of her skirt. Dracula saw the blade at the last minute, right as it was coming toward his face. Instinctively, he dissolved into a cloud of purple smoke.

Evangeline screamed in fury as her knife hit nothingness. She kicked at where Dracula had once stood as the flames around her began to grow, responding to her anger. She had forgotten he could dissipate. But he was going to regret running. He was going to regret everything.

"I'm coming." She snarled. Then her face formed a cruel smile. "I'm coming, Blackthorne's Son."

A/N-Not sure if I'm entirely happy on how this turned out. Oh well, hope you enjoyed it. As you can see, Evangeline's not exactly...um...right in the head. Hey, did you hear they're making a second Hotel T? But it doesn't come out untill 2015! Grrrr! Why does moviemaking take so long?! Oh well, we still have Fanfiction.


	9. Reflections

"Everybody's got a dark side,  
Can you love me? Can you love mine?  
Nobody's picure perfect,  
But we're worth it, you know that we're worth it."  
-Kelly Clarkson, Dark Side

Two days untill Halloween. Frank sighed as he mopped the ballroom floor. And, according to the mysterious lady Mavis and Johnny had encountered, five days until the end of the world. Where was Dracula when they needed him?  
It all made Frank nervous. He and Dracula had grown up together. His aunt, Rossete, had adopted Frank after his creator, Viktor, was killed in a mob when Frank was young. Dracula had always been the 'take-charge' one, he was the one who had master-minded all their childish schemes and pranks. They had gotten worse after they met the Invisible Man, but that was another story.  
Frank never kept anything from Dracula, but Dracula had kept a few things from Frank. Like when Johnny first arrived at the hotel. And now, the whole 'end-of-the-world' thing. There was definitely something Dracula wasn't willing to tell about. Frank's mind flashed back to when they were children:

_Frankie sniffled as he watched the rain pour down. He didn't understand what happened to Papa Viktor. Last Frankie had seen him, he was being surrounded by angry people. When he asked Justine, thier maid, her eyes had filled with tears and she had just shaken her head. 'Your papa's in a better place.' She had said._  
_ "Where are we going?" Frankie asked Justine, who was driving the horses._  
_ "Somewhere where you'll be safe." She answered._  
_ "Are you coming with me?" Frankie asked._  
_ "No darling, I'm not. But I will visit you. I promise."_  
_ Frankie nodded. The cart pulled up to a big, dark looking house. "Come, Frankie." Justine said._  
_ Rubbing his bolts, which were starting to spark from the ran, and grabbing his suitcase, Frankie dragged himself from the cart, murmuring goodbyes to the horses. Justine pulled him up to the front steps and tapped on the front door. A woman opened it. Frankie recognized her from one of Papa Viktor's parties._  
_ "Thank goodness Justine. I was afraid they killed you too." The woman said, embracing Justine._  
_ "You should be glad they didn't get to Frankie here." Justine gestured to Frankie. "Are you sure you want to take him in?"_  
_ "Are you sure you want to give him up?" The woman half-scolded._  
_ "I have to. They'll come after me next if I don't. I don't want to end up like Viktor." Justine murmured the last sentence, but Frankie heard it nontheless._  
_ "That's because you don't have a courageous bone in your body." The woman said cooly. "What happened to that mob?"_  
_ "They scattered. Raul Anul will not be returning for sometime."_  
_ "Justine?" Both women turned to Frankie. "What's ra-ool, an-an-"_  
_ "Raul Anul?" The woman said. "Why, he's the most evil man alive!"_  
_ "Rossete!" Justine hushed panickally. _  
_ "Justine." Rossete leaned forward toward Frankie. "Raul Anul is also known as the Boogeyman. Have you heard of him?"_  
_ Frankie nodded. "Papa Viktor said he was evil."_  
_ "He is evil. He's the pure essence of evil that haunts and curses monsters like us." Rossete said._  
_ "Did he kill Papa Viktor?!" Frankie gasped._  
_ "Don't you worry about that." Justine said angrily. "Rossete, Frankie's too young. He's made of artificial intelligence-"_  
_ "So does that mean he's dumb?" Rossete turned on Justine angrily. "Just because children are young, that doesn't mean they don't understand. My sister, God rest her soul, never lied to my nephew, and I never will either! Children should be able to know things they would understand, especially about the Boogeyman!"_  
_ "Auntie?" A young boy about Frankie's age peeked out behind Rossete's skirts. "What's going on?"_  
_ Rossete's gaze softened as she gazed on the boy. "Nothing, Vladdie." She sighed. The she turned back to Justine with a glare. "Leave Viktor's child with me." She said cooly. "Viktor was my best friend. You don't deserve his boy."_  
_ Justine glared at Rossete. "I have the right to visit him." She snapped._  
_ "Go ahead. Louie will chase you right off my property." Rossete snarled, and Frankie saw a flash of fangs inside her mouth. "Now go away." Justine gave Rossete a withering look, and stomped off back into the rain._  
_ "Who are you?" Frankie asked Rossete after a moment of silence. _  
_ "She's my Auntie Rosy!" The boy behind her piped up before Rossete could answer. "Who are you?"_  
_ "Vladdie, sweetie, this is Frankie. Frankie, my name is Rossete, but you can call me Auntie Rosy."_  
_ "But that's my name for you!" Her nephew protested. "He can't have it!"_  
_ "You don't like Justine, do you?" Frankie asked Rossete. _  
_ Rossete laughed. "We have a long history." She admitted._  
_ "Are you like me?" Frankie said. "Are you a-monster?"_  
_ Rossete's face darkened. "I am-not a flesh golem, if that's what you're asking." She said hesitantly. "Vladdie and I are both vampires. I'm also a seer, but that's more of an ability then a species."_  
_ "So you're a monster?" Frankie asked._  
_ "No. Neither are you. Monsters are evil. We're not. The word 'monster' is a heartless stereotype."_  
_ "What's a stereotype?"_  
_ "A stereotype is a name or phrase for a group of people that share common characteristics but is not exactly true." Rossete's nephew announced proudly._  
_ "Yes, well, I suppose that's one name for it. Now Frankie, come inside now before the rain shorts you out." Rossete gestured Frankie inside. "Now, Vladdie, can you play with Frankie while I get lunch ready?"_  
_ The young boy nodded. Rossete left the two of them in the hall in an awkward silence._  
_ "Um, Vladdie, where do I put my suitcase?" Frankie asked cautiously. The boy oppisite to him whurled around at him angrily._  
_ "Don't call me that." He snapped. "Only my aunt and my mother call me that. Everyone else calls me Dracula."_  
_ "All right-Dracula." Frankie fiddled with the handle on his suitcase. "Is Dracula your last name?"_  
_ Dracula bit his lip. "Yes."_  
_ "You live with Rossete?"_  
_ "Yes."_  
_ "Where are your parents?"_  
_ Dracula stiffened. "They're dead." He said shortly._  
_ "Oh." Frankie looked down, emabarrassed. Dracula noticed, and looked slightly guilty._  
_ "Do you play chess?" Dracula asked._  
_ "A little." Frankie said._  
_ "Then let's play. Aunt Rosy has a chessboard in the library." Dracula headed in the direction of the library. Frank hesitantly hovered back. Dracula looked back at him, annoyed. "Well, come on!" Frank followed the young vampire, still unsure as to where to put his suitcase._

Frank swished around the mop as the flashback faded. Something was nagging at the back of his mind, but Frank couldn't quite catch what it was. Then something occured to him. He laid the mop to rest and went to find Mavis.  
Mavis was curled into a ball on a plush armchair in the library, exhausted. Her head was on Johnathon's shoulder, where Johnathon was sound asleep.  
"Mavis." Frank shook her shoulder. "Mavy, wake up."  
Mavis stirred, and lifted her head up from Johnathon's shoulder. "Hey Uncle Frank." She said sleepily. "Did you mop the ballroom floor? Do you need help with anything?"  
"Yes, but that's not why I'm here. What did you do with that poster? The one with Blackthorne's son?"  
Mavis pointed to the desk paralell to her. Frank walked over and examined the poster, studying the picture.  
"Why do you need it?" Mavis asked.  
"Because something's bugging me about that picture and I don't know what." Frank pointed his gargantuan finger to the fading image of the little boy.  
"There is something about that kid that gives me the creeps." Mavis said, looking a little more alert.  
Frank stared at it, trying to catch that nagging thought that was flying around his brain. Finally, he shook his head.  
"I have no idea." He admitted. "Maybe it's nothing."  
Mavis shrugged. "Maybe."  
Frank stared at it a little longer and finally gave up. "Go back to sleep Mavis." Frank sighed. "We'll figure it out eventually."  
"Eventually.." Mavis agreed, and dozed off on Johnathon's shoulder again.  
Frank squinted his eyes and tried flipping the poster in different directions. Still nothing. Then he flipped it over. And froze.  
Carefully printed writing was scribbled over the back of the yellowing poster. Frank didn't read the writing, so he wasn't bothered by the writing. He was more bothered about the handwriting and the color of the ink. Handwriting and color that was very familiar. A dozen different options ran thier way through Frank's head, until he settled on the most likely one.  
He got up, and went to make a phone call to his aunt Rossete.


	10. The Phrophecy

CHAPTER 9-THE PROPHECY  
"You think you know me, got me figured out,  
You're casting shadows, I'm casting doubt,  
You think you know me, you think I care,  
You should spend some time with the person in the mirror."  
-Art of Dying, 'You Don't Know Me'

Griffith yawned. Wayne scratched the back of his head. Mavis had her head resting on the table. Everyone in the bar looked exhausted from running the hotel.  
"Where the heck is Frank?" Eunice whined, breaking the silence.  
"How should we know? He's your husband!" Wanda snapped. Her usual sweet demeanor was gone after cooking for a bunch of complaining monsters who didn't like her food as much as she had hoped.  
"How does Drac even do it?" Murray, who was trying to nap on a pile of sand muttered.  
"Another reason why I'm going to kill him when he comes back." Wayne grumbled.  
Finally, there was a sound of heavy footsteps running towards the bar.  
"Finally." Johnathon sighed.  
Frank came dashing in, waving the wanted poster. "I'm sorry I'm late guys, but I had to make a phone call."  
"That doesn't explain why you called a stupid meeting." Wayne mumbled.  
"Listen guys, this is really important. I found something written on the back of the wanted poster!" Frank said excitedly.  
"What wanted poster?" Johnathon mumbled.  
"The wanted poster for Blackthorne's son! Look!" Frank shoved the poster on the table in front of Mavis. The monsters read the first line of the carefully printed writing.  
'Aveti grija la muritori, darness miste'  
"What the heck does that mean?" Eunice snapped.  
'Hranirea off ale voastre ganduri si temeri'  
"I'm not sure." Griffith said.  
'Alscultand cu urechile ascunse'  
"I think it's Romanian!" Johnathon said suddenly.  
Mavis sat up, looking excited. "Let me see!" She took the poster and looked it over a few times. "I think I can translate it. Can someone get me a piece of paper and pencil?"  
Frank rummaged around his pockets and pulled out a crumpled napkin and a pen. Mavis took them and began to translate the back of the poster.  
After fifteen minutes, she ut it down triumphantly. "Done!" She said.  
"Lemme see!" Her friends crowded around her and began to read.  
"Oh no!" Wanda gasped.  
"Whoa." Johnathon whispered.

_ 'Beware, mortals, darkness nears,_  
_ Feeding off thine thoughts and fears,_  
_ Listening with hidden ears,_  
_ The dark curse shall reappear._

_ Blackthorne and another, powerful lines shall unite,_  
_ The chosen born on Blood Moon's night,_  
_ The night which the world may meet fate's ends,_  
_ To the side which the chosen contends.'_

"The phrophecy." Mavis breathed in horror.  
"Whoa." Johnathon murmured again.  
Frank rubbed his forehead.  
"What's wrong?" Eunice asked.  
"The handwriting." Frank murmured. "It's Aunt Rossete's."  
_Rossete._ The name flashed through Mavis's memory. She knew that name...  
_Rossete the seer._  
_ Louie the zombie._  
"It was her !" Mavis gasped.  
"Who?" All eyes turned to her.  
Mavis tried to put the pieces together. None of them fit. It didn't make sense. How could Rossete even be part of this? Heck, how could Mavis's own bloodline be part of this? Her only living genetic relatives: her father, and her great-aunt, knew more about this then they were willing to tell about...the end on the world?!  
"The lady at the concert! The one who started this whole thing!" Mavis took a deep breath. "It was Dad and Uncle Frank's Aunt Rossete!"  
It took while for the shock to sink in.  
"No!" Frank moaned. "No!"  
It couldn't be true. His own aunt had been lying to him too.  
Frank buried his face in his hands. For once, he was glad his hands were bigger then his face, so that his friends couldn't see him bawling his eyes out.

************************************************** ************************************************** ************************************************** ****

Blackthorne smirked with a grim triumphance. He could see the glittering lights of his son's hotel in the distance.  
Twenty four hours until Halloween. Twenty four hours until he would have another oppurtunity to kill his son.

A/N-To answer Bloodorange172's question, I will definately be finishing this. I am not one of those authors who discontinue stories. And yes, this chapter is shorter then I anticipated, but I promise the next one will be longer.


	11. Out of Time

CHAPTER 10-OUT OF TIME  
"Honesty is what you need, it sets you free,  
Like someone to save you,  
Let it go, but hurry now, there's undertow,  
And I don't want to lose you now."  
-One Republic, 'Someone to Save You'

It was Halloween night.

Mavis paced nervously at the door to the ballroom. Music was blaring, and almost every monster guest in the hotel was having a great time. The hydra heads were bobbing for apples, which was very intresting to watch, the skeleton family was playing limbo with Steve the Blob, and someone had set up another game of Marco Polo in the far corner.

"What is it with Marco Polo lately?" Johnathon asked.

Murray shrugged. "I dunno, it's fun? And it drives Drac crazy?"

"He hasn't arrived yet." Mavis murmured worriedly.

"Was he supposed to?" Frank asked.

"That was my plan. I thought that when Halloween came, Dad would come back and take charge, since he knows Halloween is the day of the invasion, if Rossete was telling the truth." Frank winced when Mavis mentioned Rossete.

"I still don't get what's going on." Murray pointed. "Does anyone?"

They all shook thier heads.

"But I have a feeling that if Drac comes back tonight, and I think he will, all of our questions will be answered." Wayne muttered darkly. A silence followed his words.

"Excuse me?" The monsters jumped, and whirled around to face the Fly.

"I need to speak with Dracula, at the moment." The Fly commanded.

"Well...uh..." Johnathon glanced at his friends, all whom looked like they were about to panic.

"My father's...um...busy, at the moment. Can it wait?" Mavis responded.

"No it cannot. My payday was yesterday, and I still haven't recieved my money."

"I'll talk to you about it later, alright? Now why don't you go enjoy the party-"

"NO, ma'am." The Fly interrupted her. "Ever since you and the human arrived, things have seemed, a bit, well, off."

"Please calm down." Mavis said anxiously. The partying monsters were starting to take notice of the arguement.

"I haven't seen Dracula for a few days." the Fly continued. "Every time I look, it's always you and your friends here, that seem to be in charge. Tell me, where is our hotel manager? Does this have something to do with the invasion you and Johnathon talked about?" There were cries from the crowd when he mentioned the word 'invasion'.

"All right you little insect-" Eunice started to growl, but Frank and Wanda held her back.

"I understand your concerns-" Mavis began, but she was interrupted.

"Yeah! Where's Dracula?!" One of the skeletons demanded.

"How come you've been running the hotel?" A gremlin demanded.

"Why are you just noticing now?" Griffith yelled.

Everyone started yelling/roaring/shrieking. Frank and Wayne desperately tried to maintain order, but to no avail.

Suddenly, there was a creak. Everyone shut up and turned around to the ballroom door. Coming through it, was none other then a very disgruntled looking Count Dracula.

"Well that solves that problem." Griffith muttered.

"Dad!" Mavis ran to her father and engulfed him in a hug.

"Where the-" Frank stopped in mid-sentence as he took in Dracula's appearance.

"Holy crap Drac, what happened?" Murray said.

Dracula looked like he had spent all day in the sun, which for, a vampire, was not a good thing. His cape was ragged and torn, his hair was a mess, and he had a faraway look in his eyes.

"Where have you been?" Frank demanded angrily.

"Here and there." Dracula muttered distractedly.

"Dude, you have sticks and leaves in your hair." Johnathon pointed out. Dracula lifted a hand to his head, and looked surprised at the leaves.

"Oh yes. So there is. Listen, we really need to talk-"

"Yeah we do." Frank interrupted.

"Seriously though, where have you been? And don't say you were meeting up with Desmona." Mavis said.

" Let's just say I was chased around by my very angry ex-girlfriend who wanted to kill me." Dracula murmured.

"What?" Johnathon looked surprised.

"Yeah, that raises more questions then answers." Murray pointed out.

"Did you go out in the sun again?" Mavis asked worriedly.

"No. I just got-set on fire." Her father replied.

"Why would you get set on-"

"DRACULA." Frank boomed. Mavis went quiet. Everyone except Dracula stared up at Frank with nervous eyes.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" Frank demanded. "WHAT'S GOING ON?"

The faraway look in Dracula's eyes vanished and the count seemed to snap back to reality. "What?"

"Listen Dad, we've...figured things out, and we kinda want to know what's going on!" Mavis said shortly.

"Yes I agree." Dracula ran his fingers through his hair nervously. "I'll explain..."

"You better!" Frank snarled. Dracula jumped. Frank wasn't taking this too well.

"Yeah. You're hiding something from us." Wayne said dangerously.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but-we kinda want to know why the world is about to end." Griffith deadpanned.

Dracula froze. For a minute, he looked exactly like a deer in headlights. "How much do you know?" He whispered.

"Well, we know there's a phrophecy. And there's some curse. and the world's about to end. And Blackthorne, the most dangerous vampire in history, is involved in this. And so is our AUNT, who seems to be in cahoots with you!" Frank snapped.

"It's nothing like that Frank." Dracula said.

"Then tell us everything!"

"I can't!"

"WHY?!"

Dracula took a deep breath. "Because I don't want you to be involved." He began to pace, torn cape billowing behind him. "I was going to tell you. I was going to tell you all everything. But know that I'm here-" He stopped. "I realize that this is my fight. I need to fight it alone, before anyone gets hurt."

"How is it your fight?" Frank demanded.

"You don't need to know!"

"No Drac." Frank got into Dracula's face. "You obviously don't want us to know. You're scared."

Dracula's shoulders sagged. "I am scared. I won't deny it."

There was a silence. Suddenly, Dracula tensed, wincing in pain.

"Drac?" Johnathon said worriedly.

"We're out of time." Dracula murmured.

"What?" Johnathon turned pale.

Dracula straighthened his posture and stared cooly at Mavis

"Mavy." He began. "You need to be in charge now."

"W-what?" Mavis swallowed.

"I don't know if I'm going to survive tonight. If I don't-"

"Wait! Who said anything about you dying?" Wayne said nervously. Frank's anger seemed to evaporate, and the flesh golem looked terrified.

"You need to get everyone out Frank. After that, Mavis, you're in charge."

"Daddy..." Mavis looked like she was eighty-three again.

A mild tremor shook the ballroom. Thunder flashed outside. Dracula winced.

"That's my cue." He said. The he turned to Frank. "Remember, get everyone out." He commanded.

"Drac-" Frank trailed off. There was nothing he could think of saying.

"It's all right Frank." Dracula gave a weak smile, which faded within seconds. He turned back to Mavis, and brushed a tear from her cheek. "I'm proud of you Mavis." He whispered. "Be strong." Then he turned to Johnathon. "Take care of them." Dracula commanded.

"Buddy-" Griffith whispered. "You could at least tell us."

"I'm sorry." Dracula said. "Goodbye all. Get out while you still can." Then he turned into a bat and was gone.

The ballroom shook again, much more violently. Whispered cries of fear erupted from the crowd.

"You heard the man, we need to get out!" Griffith yelled.

"We'll have to use the tunnels." Mavis said numbly, tears pouring down her face. "There's no entrances here though."

"Then we'll use the one in the lobby!" Wayne gathered up his wife and kids, who were all whimpering nervously. Johnathon pulled Mavis close to him, and Frank began to move everyone to the door. He pushed on the massive doors, and all of the hotel guests followed, flocking like sheep.

"Move everyone, straight line!" The suit of armor yelled.

"Hurry!" Johnathon tugged on Mavis, who seemed to be shell-shocked.

A gust of wind swept in from nowhere. Suddenly, a man walked right in front of Frank, also out of nowhere.

Frank froze, and so did everyone behind him. The man stopped right in front of the flesh golem, turned around, and smiled.

"Well if it isn't the famous Frankenstein monster. As well as the Invisible Man, the Mummy, and...my goodness, Mavis Dracula? What an honor."

"Who are you?" Wayne asked. The man smirked.

"Oh, let's not waste time on introductions. I am here to see Count Dracula."

"He left." Eunice said shortly.

"Did he? I don't believe so. I sense he's here." The man's eyes crept towards Mavis. Johnathon, noticing this, tightened his grip around her.

"All right, we're just gonna go around you now..." Frank silently began to slip around the man.

Suddenly, the man grinned. Fire leaped up around him, and settled into his palm. He held it out towards Frank.

"Fire!" Frank shrieked, and leaped behind Eunice, who rolled her eyes despite being scared.

"No one is going anywhere until I have my hands on Dracula!" The man snarled. "Either you give him to me, or I will burn this wretched hotel to the ground."

Mavis stared at the fire. Something hit her; a faint, yet crystal-clear memory-

_"Daddy, what type of powers will I have?" Mavy asked as she flipped through the pages of her book on vampires._

_"You'll have my powers, honey." Her father pecked her on the top of her head. "You'll be able to fly, walk on walls-"_

_"Control fire?" Mavy asked._

_"What?" Her father looked alarmed._

_"Look." Mavy pointed at a picture of a tall vampire with a ball of fire in his hand._

_Mavy's father frowned. He flipped the book closed and pulled it away from her._

_"No sweetie." He said. "Only bad vampires use fire. Fire, like Uncle Frank says, is very bad. Don't ever use fire sweetie. You don't know how, and I don't want you to. Promise?"_

_"Okay Daddy." Mavy said._

As the memory faded, Mavis stared at the man with disdain.

"You're Count Blackthorne." She said.

Blackthorne smirked. "You're a smart child." He said. "As Dracula's daughter, that's what I would expect." Blackthorne beganto come towards her, a menacing smile on his face as flames flickered around him.


	12. Witch hunt

CHAPTER 11-WITCH HUNT  
"The righteous rise with burning eyes,  
Of hatred and ill-will  
Madmen fed on fear and lies,  
To beat and burn and kill."  
Rush, 'Witch Hunt'

It was like a nightmare. Dracula flew faster and faster as rain beat down on his skin. He could see Evangeline in the distance, standing on the roof, the shadows beginning to gather around the hotel, around his hotel, about to invade the castle and kill everyone he loved, all by the order of the monster that was his father.

Shots of pain rang in and out of his head, signalling his father's presence. _It's happening, it's happening, this is real, it's happening_, Dracula repeated over and over in his mind. It's only the beginning. _The phrophecy's beginning._  
No. It began a long time ago.

_Ducking his head, Vlad scurried past the looming Salem citizens who glared down his back. Hopping over mud puddles, he scurried as fast as he could home. He looked back. A hulking man dressed in the usual black attire seemed to be following him._

_Panting slightly, Vlad began to go faster. A whole crowd of ten men were beginning to follow him now. Why were they following him? Then, tripping over a rut in the ground, Vlad ended up sprawling in the mud. Pushing his hood back, he lifted his head to meet the glare of his father through the pouring rain._

Dracula landed on the roof right behind Evangeline. She turned to face him, red hair billowing in the wind. She looked nothing like the beautiful, shy bookworm he had once been attracted to when they had first met. She looked dark, scary, and ready to kill him. She looked like a monster.

_Vlad saw, out of the corner of his eye, a piece of paper hanging on the side of the church. He could see his face on it. He squinted, reading the words from a distance-_

_WANTED:Vladislav Blackthorne the Second_  
_Accused of: Witchcraft and the murder of innocents._  
_Accused by: The good people of Salem and Vladislav Blackthorne the First_

_Vlad gasped, and squirmed away on his back. When he gasped, the villagers caught a glimpse of his fangs. _

_"It's true!" shrieked a woman. "Reverand Blackthorne was correct!"_

_"The child's a demon!" A man yelled._

_Blackthorne gave his son a triumphant smirk. Vlad swallowed. It was true. His father had turned Salem against him and Mother. His father wanted him dead._

Evangeline slowly turned to face Dracula. She gave a creepy, Joker-like grin as soon as his eyes met hers.

"It's over." Evangeline hissed. "You're dead. They're dead. You're all dead."

"Over my dead body." Dracula snarled.

"That's the point."

Dracula dissapeared in a cloud of smoke. Evangeline stared at the spot where he once was. Then, he came up behind her and tackled her through the roof.

Splinters of wood rained down on them as they fell. Evangeline shoved him off and landed on a bed. Dracula hit the floor, and came up on one knee. They were in one of the hotel rooms. Evangeline slowly rose up, until she was standing on the bed frame with a murderous glare on her face. Dracula sent his own glare right back.

"Where's Blackthorne?" He snarled.

"You mean your father?" Evangeline shot right back.

"He's nowhere close to being my father!" Dracula snapped.

Evangeline shot a column of flames at him, but he ducked and rolled to the side. Dracula shot a candlestick at her, a book, a piece of wood, a cement block, and other small, but heavy projectiles. All of them Evangeline dodged nimbly, while Dracula dodged the multiple fireballs thrown in his direction.

Dracula picked up a poker from the fireplace and swiped at Evangeline with it. She ducked, and slashed, he swiped and ducked, until finally Dracula caught her unbalanced, and pinned her to the ground with a red-hot poker point at her throat. Evangeline but at him, but he grabbed her hair and pulled her head away from him.

"I'll ask you one last time." Dracula snarled, eyes growing red. "WHERE IS HE?!"

Evangeline narrowed her eyes. "Where do you think?" She spat out. "He'll go after them as soon as you leave thier side."

Dracula's eyes widened. _Mavis. Frank. Johnathon._

_No._

Dracula punched Evangeline in the face. The woman was thrown clear through a wall and into another bedroom. Dracula followed her through and pinned her down again, preparing to slit her throat. Fear flashed in Evangeline's eyes and she coughed out blood and stared into Dracula's raging red eyes. Suddenly he froze. One word flew through his brain as he connected these events.

_Mother._

_Vlad got to his feet and rain to his mother's house. They were right behind him, but he had to warn Mother before they killed her. He ran faster and faster, blurs of color dancing around him. Then he ran into his front door. Vlad stood up, shaking off the shock and dizziness as he banged into the house._

_"Mother!" He screamed. "Mother!" _

_"__Hush darling!" His mother caught him by the waist, and Vlad clung to her, sobbing. "What's wrong, sweetie?"_

_"Mother, Father's found us! He turned everybody in town against us, and now they're coming, and they think I'm a demon, Mother! They think I'm a demon! They think I killed people!"_

_Mother's eyes widened in horror. She clung to her son as he sobbed into her shirt._

_"Why do they think I'm evil, Mother? Why do they want to kill me?" Vlad asked pleadingly._

_"In here!" A rough voice shouted._

_"Mother!" Vlad gasped. His mother let go of him and shoved a wooden chair under the door handle. The door shook as fists pounded on it and pitchforks rammed into it. For a minute, Vlad allowed himself to think they would be safe. The a burning torch crashed through the window, and the house was set on fire. _

_Mother stood up rapidly and ran to Vlad. She pushed him back, away from the rapidly spreading flames. Then, gunshots rang out, glass shattered, and Mother collapsed. _

_"Mother!"_

Dracula stared at Evangeline's terrified face.

_Demon child._

No. He would not stoop to his father's level. So Dracula promptly knocked her out. Evangeline slid to the ground, blood covering her face. Dracula stood up, took a deep breath, and walked to the hole in the wall leading to the outside world he had once forbidden Mavis from entering. That seemed so far away now.

Dracula waited for his magic to take hold and to transform him into a bat.

Nothing.

Dracula's eyes widened. Maybe I just need a boost. He jumped. Freefalling, the Count waited for the transformation to take hold. Nothing.

Flapping his arms, Dracula began to panic. Why couldn't he transform? His hand brushed against the stone wall as he fell, and he suddenly stopped.  
Dracula raised his head. His hand was connecting him to the wall, and it seemed to be holding in midair. Curious, he let go, and immediately began to fall again. Panicking, he placed a hand and a foot on the wall, and immediately stopped. His heart began to race and he processed this.

His powers. Another sign the Blood Moon was coming. Dracula's power was increasing. But why couldn't he fly?

He'll figure it out later, Dracula decided. Sticking to the outside wall like a spider, Dracula began to climb the walls, up to the stain glass windows he believed the fighting was at.

Blackthorne unsheathed a silver sword, holding the tip inches from Mavis's face. Johnathon pulled her closer to him, as if he stood a chance against the most evil vampire in history.

"Don't touch her." He snapped.

Blackthorne stared at the human in disdain. "Humans." He spat. "Disgusting creatures. Not worthy of living."

"You'll have to go through us first." Blackthorne saw Frank, still pale-faced from the fire, but determined-looking, with Eunice at his side. Wayne and Wanda had gathered thier pups, and the whole family was growling. Murray wiggled his fingers, ready to summon an ounslaught of sand, the multiple suits of armor held thier weapons, and Griffith-well, nobody could actually see what Griffith was doing, but his glasses were bouncing around, so he was most likely doing some random karate stances. Even the assaorted guests looked ready for battle.

"Fine then." Blackthorne snarled.

Without warning, his shadows sped into the room, and swirled around them, forcing them away from Mavis and Johnathon. One of the suits of armor tried to fight through one. He screamed as the shadows slowly devoured his armor, the closest thing he had to skin. Everyone else froze, while the head suit of armor cried out, until one of his men had dissapeared to nothing. So nobody made a move to try and break through the dark wall that was forming around them.

Blackthorne faced Mavis and Johnathon again. He slashed at them with his sword. Johnathon pulled Mavis back and swung a fist. Blackthorne caught it, and twisted. Johnathon yelped.

"Stop it!" Mavis cried. She tried to lunge at Blackthorne, but Johnathon's grip held her back.

Blackthorne released Johnathon's fist, and kicked him in the chest multiple times releasing his grip on Mavis. He then slammed his sword hilt into Johnathon's skull and the boy collapsed into a groaning heap.

"Johnny!" Mavis screamed as her friends behind her gasped. She tried to kneel by her boyfriend's side, but Blackthorne caught her by the neck. Mavis swiped at him screaming, and the two staggered into a wall. Mavis lost her balance, her knees gave way and Blackthorne pinned her to the wall.

"To break Dracula, I need to kill you." Blackthorne hissed.

"Mavis!" Frank screamed. Wanda let out a cry of horror.

Mavis shut her eyes, waiting for her impending death, when a caped figure crashed through the stained-glass window. The shadows guarding it scattered, and Dracula rose up with an air so menacing and dark, many of the shadows cowered under his glare.

"Get away from my daughter!"

A/N-Don't worry, the big confrontation will happen in the next chapter. As usual, read and review, because I stayed up late writing this chapter.


	13. Bloodstains

CHAPTER 12-THE RETURN OF BLACKTHORNE"S SON  
"You think you know me, got me figured out,  
You're casting shadows, I'm casting doubt  
You think you know me, you think I care,  
You should spend some time with the person in the mirror."  
-Art of Dying, 'You Don't Know Me'

Blackthorne smirked. He released his grip on Mavis and threw her to the ground. Then he turned and faced Dracula.

"Don't touch my daughter, you monster." Dracula hissed.

Mavis looked up from the floor, and stared at the two men in horror.

"She's a pretty one." Blackthorne said. "Reminds me of...Martha, was it? And your mother?"

"Don't talk about Martha." Dracula snapped. "Or my mother."

"Daddy..." Mavis whispered.

"Back away, honeybat." Dracula demanded. "I don't want you near him."

"How hurtful, Vladislav." Dracula winced as Blackthorne said it. Mavis stared at her father, realizing that she had never heard her father's first name before.

Frank studied Dracula's and Blackthorne's expressions as they glared at eachother. Blackthorne's was of pure hate. So was Dracula's, but there was a mild hint of fear. Thier hate seemed...almost personal, Frank realized, dread coursing through him. Have Dracula and Blackthorne...met before? How?

"I am impressed Vladislav." Blackthorne said icily. "You've managed to build a new life. Friends, a daughter, your own hotel, all based on a lie."

"Shut up." Dracula snarled, fists beginning to clench.

"You thought you could hide from me." Blackthorne continued. "You thought you could have a life. But all you did was put even more people in danger. People you care about even. You even thought you could hide from the phrophecy. All rather futile, I'm afraid."

Johnathon lifted his head up dizzily. Mavis frantically gestured at him to play dead, not wanting him to get in the way of the fight she was sure was coming. Johnathon, however, obviously didn't know what was going on, as he looked around disoriented.

"You're just like me Dracula." Blackthorne said.

"No I'm not." Dracula spat.

"We both have ways of getting what we want. We both will lie and cheat in our own favor. Your case is much more noble then mine, but overall, our moves are the same." Blackthorne smirked, and then dropped the bomb. "You'll always be like me. Once your friends realize this, you'll be alone. For that reason, your mother's death was in vain."

That snapped something inside Dracula. He extended his hand, and his head suit of armor's sword was wrench from his hands, through the wall of shadow, and into Dracula's hand. He flew at Blackthorne, and thier swords clashed.

Mavis reached her hand toward Johnathon and he grasped it, finally starting to regain sense. The couple turned back to the fight that was taking place, as well as the monsters behind the shadow wall, who had already been watching.

Blackthorne talked as he fought. "You-are-pathetic!" He gasped against Dracula's onslaught. "Three hundred-and-sixty-seven years and you never even tried to extend your powers, to see what you could do! All that time to-plot my downfall, and you never even thought of me once!"

"Not true!" Dracula kicked Blackthorne in the chest, huffing. "There's-" He panted. "There's not a single day when you haven't tried to invade my life!" He deflected Blackthorne's sword with his own. "I tried so hard to get away from you!" Dracula pushed against Blackthorne's sword, panting. "I never wanted to see you again. But-I should've known better-that you would always try and ruin my life!" Blackthorne roared and shoved against his son hard. Dracula stumbled, sword flying out of his grasp, and Blackthorne's hand came alive with flickering green flames.

"Drac!" Frank yelled. Eunice and Griffith had to restrain him from trying to break through the shadow wall.

"Vladislav Dracula..." Blackthorne mused. "And your friends call you Dracula. They don't know, obviously. So I'll tell them."

"Leave them out of this!" Dracula began to inch toward his fallen sword.

"I didn't bring them into this." Blackthorne said logically. "You did. Which is why you didn't want to tell them about me."

"Dad?" Mavis whispered. "You know...Blackthorne?"

Frank stopped struggling. Everyone froze, waiting to hear Blackthorne's answer.

"Indeed he knows me, dear girl." Blackthorne smiled, but it made Evangeline's joker grin look like Mother Teresa's smile. "He knows me very well. In fact, I'm his father."

Everything fell silent. Mavis was in absolute shock. Wayne's jaw was hanging down. Everyone else looked either horrified or shocked. _"WHAT?!"_ Murray shrieked. Frank stared at Dracula, looking hurt.

"Drac?" He asked pleadingly. Dracula averted his eyes, not wanting to meet Frank's.

Blackthorne laughed. "Oh, your reactions are hilarious." He snickered. "But enough of that." With that, he shot a giant burst of green flames, completely engulfing Dracula.

"Dad!" Mavis screamed. Frank let out a moan of defeat, dropping to his knees, burying his head in his hands. Griffith's glasses hung down as he sniffed, and the werewolf pups whimpered. Blackthorne looked like he was having the time of his life.

The flames died down. Blackthorne lowered his hand. In Dracula's place were multiple green flames.

Then, the flames gradually turned red. Blackthorne's smile faded. The fire died down, and swirled around the now visible Dracula, whose eyes were now glowing red, matching the fire.

"Drac's on fire." Murray deadpanned. Frank and Griffith lifted thier heads, and those who didn't already looked shocked now definately did.

"He's not on fire." Frank murmured. "He's controlling it."

"Only bad vampires control fire." Mavis murmured, recalling the conversation.

_No._ Not her father.

_Yes._ He is Blackthorne's Son. He always was.

Dracula shot fire at Blackthorne, who dodged and came up with a nervous expression, as nervous as Blackthorne could look. Dracula followed him looking angrier by the minute. Blackthorne held up a flickering green flame, which looked pathetic compared to Dracula's red ones. Dracula picked up his sword, and threw it like a spear at Blackthorne. The sword caught him by the cape and stuck into the wall next to the shadow wall imprisoning Dracula's friends. Blackthorne flailed like a fish on a hook as Dracula burned his way toward him.

Dracula pulled out the sword and grabbed his father by the neck. Blackthorne was powerless against this new version of his son as he felt the sword tip begin to trace across his throat. Blackthorne winced. Mavis stared at her father, wondering if he wa really going to do it. Dracula didn't even seem like the father she knew anymore. Just rage and flames.

Suddenly Dracula stiffened. The flames around him died out and his red eyes fluttered closed. his sword clattered to the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, Frank saw a dark red spot beginning to form on Dracula's stomach.

As Dracula collapsed, a bloody Evangeline flickered into view holding an equally bloody knife.

Blackthorne kicked his son aside as Mavis screamed. He strode to face the shadow wall as the shadows began to fade away. Evangeline glared at Dracula's limp form in disdain, then followed her master. Mavis began to inch toward her father, dragging Johnathon along.

As soon as the shadow walls faded, Frank pushed past Blackthorne and to Dracula's side. Mavis was already there, stroking her father's head. Johnathon was next to her, eyes grave. Frank slowly lifted Dracula in his massive arms as his friends gathered around him. Wayne pulled away Dracula's cape and swore silently at the bloodstain that was slowly growing bigger on Dracula's shirt.

"I have decided to spare your lives." Blackthorne announced. "That is, unless you all get out of my new castle. I have what I came here for. So all of you, get out." He strode out, shadows trailing after him. Evangeline followed but her eyes caught Mavis's tear stained face. Something flickered in her eyes, but it faded and she followed Blackthorne.

"Drac?" Johnathon whispered touching the vampire's arm.

Dracula's eyes fluttered open weakly. "J-John-Johna-"

"Shhh, Dad, it's fine." Mavis sobbed, clinging to Johnathon's arm.

"I-I'm s-s-sor-eeee..." Dracula's eyes shut and his head drooped.

"Dad?!" Mavis wailed. "Daddy!" She sobbed in Johnathon's shirt. Johnathon squeezed his shut, clenching his fists.

"Drac! DRACULA!" Wayne screamed desperately.

"C'mon buddy, don't do this." Griffith sobbed, glasses shaking.

"No no no." Frank wept, cradling Dracula's motionless body. Wanda started to cry, Eunice looked away, gasping. Each of the guests crowded around thier fallen manager. The suit of armor hung his head. Even the werewolf pups howled and whined.

"What do we do now?" Mavis sniffed as she peered her eyes out of Johnathon's shirt.

No one had the answer.

A/N-Don't worry, it ain't over yet. R&R!


	14. Choose

CHAPTER 13-CHOOSE  
"Here I'm on the road again,  
With my favorite lie,  
Can't keep up where I've been,  
But it helps me hide."  
-Train, 'Better off Alive'

Dracula felt like he was floating. Silver fog surrounded him, so he couldn't tell where he was. He reached out and touched the fog, but it evaporated in his hand.

Without warning the fog scattered, and Dracula was standing on a balcony. Looking down, he saw lush green fields, and in the distance, a forest.

Turning around, he faced a stone castle that made his heart leap. It was the castle he had shared with Martha. Before she had died. Mavis had been born here. It all seemed like such a long time now.

But it looked brand new, like it had a hundred and eighteen years ago. Surely it should've fallen to pieces by now, destroyed by age and the fire that had taken Martha's life. Dracula stepped inside. Even the inside hadn't changed.

"Hello?" Dracula called. No answer. He walked across the sitting room and into the grand hallway. The stain glass windows looked exactly as he remembered them. So did the plush, red carpet underneath his feet. However, one thing was out of place. A hooded woman stood underneath one of the stain glass windows, staring at it's colorful design.

"Hello?" Dracula called again.

The woman turned to face him and Dracula recognized her face.

"Martha?" He whispered, not wanting to believe it.

"Hello darling." Martha pulled down her hood, releasing her thick curls. "I've missed you so much."

Dracula walked over and touched her face. The he wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

"I've missed you too." He murmured into her hair. For that one moment, Dracula felt like everything was perfect.

"There's no time." Martha pulled away and placed a hand on his cheek. "You need to go back."

"What?" Dracula stared at her. "What do you mean? I finally have you again. I don't need to go back. Besides, it's too late."

"No it's not. The Blood Moon will arrive in three days time. You need to be alive when that happens. You need to break the curse. Your father..."

"He's not my father Martha." The spell of happiness vanished. "I've explained that to you before."

"He was your father once."

Their castle began to fade and a bedroom took it's place. Dracula recognized his mother, lying in bed, and Rossete, holding her hand. Another man who looked remarkably like Dracula was next to the two women, cradling a tiny baby.

"This was when you were born, Drac. The man holding you is your father." Martha told him, holding his hand.

Dracula stared. The man with the baby didn't look at all like the father he knew. There was some resemblance, but this man had warmth in his face and love in his eyes, especially as he gazed upon the baby.

"He..." Dracula's voice faded off. How could this man be his father?

"He loved you once, Drac. Your mother couldn't talk about him like he was before because it was too painful. Especially after he turned into the monster you know now."

The scene changed again. It was the same, except this time, the Boogeyman was standing in the room.

"The Boogeyman took his heart." Dracula murmured, as he realized something he had never considered before.

"Your father thought he was the one in the phrophecy." Martha said. "The Boogeyman wanted him on his side because of this. But what they both didn't count of was you being born. After Blackthorne turned evil, your aunt realized that you were the one in the phrophecy, and after your father realized you had some power, he did too."

Dracula stared at the scene before him. "Why didn't she tell me?" Dracula whispered. "How do you know this, my love?"

"Because I'm the one who told her." Dracula jumped as his mother's image flickered before him.

"Mother?" Dracula whispered.

"Yes." Genevieve flickered in and out of view, like a hologram. "I can't talk for long."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Dracula asked.

Genevieve hung her head. "I wanted to wait until you were older." She said simply. "But-"

Dracula looked down, knowing what his mother meant.

"You have to go back Vladdie." Genevieve said. "The phrophecy hasn't come true yet."

"But...I died." Dracula looked back at Genevieve. "Didn't I?"

"You're not dead yet." Genevieve explained. "You're currently in the process of dying. It's not too late, Vladdie. You can still make things right..." Genevieve's image flickered, and was gone.

"Mother." Dracula stretched his arm out to where is mother had once been. He turned back to Martha. "Where did she go?"

"Raul Anul." Martha said. The air suddenly grew cold, and still.

"The Boogeyman." Dracula snarled.

"He's starting to gain control of the spirits of the dead." Martha explained. "He's been trying to catch me for some time. Your mother, however, wasn't so lucky."

"He has control over her?" Dracula said in horror.

"His power is increasing, Drac. Not even the dead can hide anymore. The curse is reaching it's peak. You have to choose, now. You're the only one who can stop him, and to break the curse that has held the world for generations. But you can't do it if you die."

"I can't!" Dracula turned away from his wife so he wouldn't have to look at her face, or rather, so she didn't have to look at him. "You said it yourself. The Boogeyman's power is growing. How can I stop him now? Especially with Mavis and the others..." Dracula trailed off, not wanting to continue. "They know now, Martha. They know..."

Martha walked over to Dracula and pulled him into an embrace.

"Knowledge is something you need to know at the right time." She said.

"What?" Dracula asked.

"You told me that. When you first told me you loved me? You said that you needed to know if I loved you back."

"If I really loved you, I would've made sure you hadn't died." Dracula looked away. Martha gave him a stern look.

"That doesn't matter now. 'Knowledge is something you need to know at the right time?' Who told you that?" Martha turned his face to look at her.

"My aunt did."

"Isn't she the one that first saw you in the phrophecy? Isn't she the one who believed in you first? Frank, Wayne, Griffith, Wanda, our daughter, they have to know. And they know now. And it's about time they knew. They'll understand once you explain everything to them. I know they will."

Dracula swallowed as Martha pulled away from him. As though something was telling him to, he looked down and saw that his feet were starting to fade.

Martha noticed it too. "We're running out of time." She reached around her neck and took off the necklace she had been wearing that Dracula hadn't paid much attention to. It didn't look like anything special, just a red stone set on a golden chain. Martha hooked the necklace around Dracula's neck.

"What's this?" Dracula held up the stone, peering at his reflection.

"A Seeing Stone." Martha explained. "It'll give you the guidance you need before the Blood Moon. It'll let you see"

"Martha..." Dracula took a deep breath. Seeing his dead wife was becoming too much for the Count. His head was spinning with emotion. He felt weaker then anything that the past week had caused.

"You have to go back, Drac. Even though they're starting to succeed in bringing you back, you can't be brought back until you want to be." The scene around them again began to change until they were in a dark tunnel. Dracula recognized it as one of the escape tunnels under the hotel. There was quite a crowd gathered. Monsters were huddled up in little groups, which seemed to be placed around the main group. With a shock, Dracula recognized his friends, daughter, and his aunt.  
"How did Rossete...she wasn't there before?" Dracula asked.

"She found them in the tunnels. She was worried and decided to come and help. She was a bit too late." Martha replied.

Dracula made his way to the main group. Unlike the other images Martha had shown him, which were still, like pictures, this one was like watching one of those movies Johnathon had shown the hotel. Mavis was curled up against Johnathon with her eyes closed, tears streaking down her face, Wayne was holding Wanda comfortingly, and Frank was on his knees, holding a body-

"Wait-is that me?" Dracula asked, pointing to the body.

"Like I said, they're trying to bring you back." Martha explained. "What we're seeing is happening right now."

Rossete and one of the witch maids had thier hands on the dead-Dracula's chest, murmurung something that sounded like a spell. Spirit-Dracula looked back down at his feet and saw the fading had spread to his waist.

"I don't understand. I thought they'd hate me. I thought they'd run away." Dracula said staring at Mavis's face.

"Drac." Martha walked over to him and stroked his face. "They wouldn't run away. They wouldn't. You have to realize that and start trusting your friends. You trusted me."

"But your're my wife."

"And they're your friends." Martha pointed at the scene before them. She turned back to face him, ands tears started to form in her eyes. She leaned forward and kissed him. "I love you Drac." She murmured. "And I know you'll make the right choices."

"But-" The fading had spread up to Dracula's neck.

"I love you." She said again. "You have to choose." Dracula stared at her face, remembering that when she died, he had made a list in his head of what he wanted to say to her if he somehow ever saw her again. Now that list was gone.

Martha kissed him again, until she dissolved through Dracula's arms.

Dracula looked around and saw everything fading. Blurs of color swept around him.

"Choose." He murmured. Then he saw a bright, big ball of light. It was right above him.

_"C'mon, Drac."_ A familiar voice came from the ball. Frank.

_"Don't do this man."_ Johnathon's.

_"Daddy."_ Now it was Mavis's voice. It was weak, scared. _"Come back."_

Dracula smiled wryly. "I'm coming sweetie." He whispered. Then he reached out and touched the ball. Blinding light filled his frame of vision until he blacked out.

A/N-What? You really thought I was going to kill Dracula off? I would've updated sooner, but I've been addicted to Temple Run. I blame my brother. As usual, please review!


	15. Dark and Light

CHAPTER 14-DARK AND LIGHT  
"Don't reach for me, I'm too far away,  
I don't wanna talk, there's nothing left to say,  
Give me your absence tonight,  
Take your sympathy and leave it outside  
No love can make this right,  
I'm trying to find the place where I belong,  
as the darkness turns to dawn,  
The child is gone."  
-Fiona Apple, 'the Child is Gone'

_Vlad cradled his mother's head as blood poured out of her chest._

_"Mother..." He whimpered._

_Genevieve reached a weak hand out to touch her son's face. "Darling..." She murmured. "My sweet son..."_

_The door shook on it's hinges as yelling men banged on it with whatever they could find. The wood cracked, and Vlad knew the door would give away soon. The house was on fire, tongues of flame licking away the happiest place Vlad had known in all his short, yet immortal life. _

_"You have to leave me." Genevieve murmured._

_"No!" Vlad clung to her hand sobbing._

_"I love you Vladdie." Tears poured down her face. "I love you too, so much."_

_"Mommy!"_

_"Run Vlad!"_

_The door gave way. More silver bullets knocked out what life was left in Genevieve. Two hit Vlad, but they did not kill him. Vlad screamed, his mother's blood mixing with his own._

_Count Blackthorne swept in, casting a emotionless glare on his dead wife and weeping, bleeding son. His eyes were cold. He didn't care that he had just killed the woman he had once vowed to honor and cherish. He didn't care his son would hate him for the rest of thier immortal lives._

_"Seize him." His finger pointed at Vlad._

_A dozen angry villagers surrounded the boy, and dragged him away from his mother's body. Vlad screamed, begging for his father to help him, asking why is he doing this, why? _

_Blackthorne didn't even flinch._

Dracula's eyes flashed open. The pain in his abdomen hit immediately, as well as the memories. Dracula squeezed his eyes shut again, trying to block out the images that flashed across his mind like a whirlwind.

_"Vladislav Dracula the Second." The judge boomed._

"No." Dracula murmured.

_"You have been accused of witchcraft by Vladislav Blackthorne the First and the good people of Salem. The verdict finds you guilty of all charges, including the murder of several young children, and consequences include painful and immediate execution!"_

_A grim smile formed on Count Blackthorne's face. Everyone else in the room murmured excitedly. Vlad watched in horror. They were actually excited to see him die. All of them. Even his own father._

_"Do you have anything to say?" The judge said._

_"It wasn't me!" Vlad begged. "Please! It wasn't me!"_

_"You expect us to believe it wasn't you?" The judge snarled. "After you've played with FIRE?"_

_"Please..."_

_"And made things float across the room? And healed your mother's sprained ankle with a single touch? You have been witnessed transforming into a bat and dissapearing in midair! You child, are a monster! A spawn of the devil himself!"_

Dracula yelped as flames took over his vision. The bed he was lying on had caught on fire. Panicking and clutching his side, Dracula staggered out of bed. He watched as his bed slowly burned to ash.

_Monster._

_Demon._

_Spawn of the devil himself._

Spawn of Blackthorne.

_That's the same thing._

Dracula looked down on his hands. Unharmed. His whole body was. Even though his bed had caught on fire with him in it. And fire was supposed to harm vampires. Dracula's mind flashed back to when he was on the outside wall of the hotel. He had never, ever been able to walk on walls. Mavis could, but he never could. But that was okay, because vampire gifts varied. In fact, Dracula was relieved when his daughter had started sleeping on the ceiling, because it was something he couldn't do.

But now it was one more thing he was able to do, along with everything else.

Dracula was so lost in his thoughts he didn't hear the voices from below his feet.

"Is that smoke?"

"Johnny, you're imagining things."

"I'm serious!"

"Johnny please, we're already freaked out enough as it is."

"Wait! I smell it too."

"Where?"

"It's coming from Drac's room!"

In literally five seconds, to door banged open and Dracula jumped. Rossete came storming in, and her eyes widened at the sight of what was once Dracula's bed. Then came Frank, Mavis, and Johnathon.

"Dad!" Mavis ran over to her slightly overwhelmed father and hugged him fiercely. Wayne's nose poked through the door.

"What's going on?" He grumbled, and gasped when he saw Dracula's room. "Whoa."

"Hey, let us through!" Murray shoved through, followed by Griffith's floating glasses.

"Is Dracula up yet?" Wanda asked curiously peeing through the door frame.

"Vladislav Dracula!" Everyone gulped as Rossete's eyes turned red. "What the-" She gestured to the bed-ashes.

"The bed-got-caught on fire." Dracula muttered.

"With you in it?!" Johnathon's eyes bulged.

"Nuh-uh!" Griffith snapped. "He would've-"

Griffith was interuppted by Rossete. "Don't even continue that sentence." Rossete snapped at him. Her red eyes looked back at Dracula, but faded to thier normal color. She walked over to her nephew, nudged/shoved Mavis out of the way, and took a golden necklace off Dracula's neck. She studied the red stone for a minute and her eyes flickered red again.

"Where did you get this?" Rossete whispered.

Dracula bit his lip looking down. There was a silence.

Finally Frank, who had been lingering in the corner, walked over and put his hand on Dracula's shoulder, sadness in his eyes.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Frank whispered.

Mavis looked at her father expectantly. Eunice came in, maybe sensing what was happening, and took Frank's hand, showing a rare affection toward her husband. Rossete looked at all the monsters in the room, those of which included her nephew, great-niece, and adopted son. She took a deep breath and averted her gaze back to her nephew and dropped the necklace back around his neck.

"I explained almost everything." Rossete said quietly. "I'll leave you all alone but I'll be back." Then she pointed at the necklace. "And you're going to explain that to me." She turned around and left the room.

Dracula leaned against the wall, feeling slightly breathless. Johnathon noticed, went into another room, and came back dragging a chair.

"You should sit." Johnathon said timidly.

"Thank you Johnathon." Dracula sat down, providing some relief. There was another silence.

"The lady who stabbed you." Griffith said slowly. "Was she the crazy ex-girlfriend you metioned?"

Murray gave gim a harsh look, but Dracula wasn't bothered by the Invisible Man's question. He nodded.

"That would be her." He answered.

"I don't remember her." Frank said slowly.

"Neither do I." Wayne said.

"Remember Evangeline?" Dracula asked. The shocked faces on his four friends gave him the answer. "That was her."

"No way!" Griffith shrieked. "She was hot before! Well, she's still hot, but-"

"Dad." Mavis interuptted. "Rossete didn't tell us everything. How-how could that guy be your father?"

Dracula sighed. "That's a very long story Mavy."

"Well tell me! Blackthorne-he's like my grandfather right?" Mavis shuddered at the thought. "And his name was mentioned in the phrophecy too! Why's that! Apparantly my name's Blackthorne, not Dracula! Whenever I asked Rossete, she was all like, 'ask your father'. What's up with that?"

Dracula sat up, feeling slightly angry. "Mavis-"

The wall right next to him caught fire. Johnathon yelped, and Frank screamed like a little girl. Eunice looked at him quizzically after it died down. Dracula winced.

"Sorry." He said numbly.

"That was you?" Frank said surprised.

Mavis stared at her father for a moment. She held out her hand.

"I tried summoning fire, but I couldn't-" Mavis let out a small yelp of surprise when her own palm caught on fire. Dracula's eyes widened and he caught her wrist. The fire spluttered out.

"Don't summon fire Mavis." Dracula said in a serious tone. "I mean it-don't."

Mavis stared at her palm, eyes growing wide with fear.

"B-but Dad." She stammered. "I was going to say I couldn't make fire. That was my first time doing it."

Johnathon's jaw dropped. Dracula released his daughter's wrist, his own eyes looking as scared as Mavis's.

"Not you too." He whispered. "Oh Mavy-Wavy, I am so sorry. For all I know..." Dracula trailed off.

His daughter was in tune with the darkness too.

"Stupid!" He said angrily aloud.

"Drac?" Frank said fearfully.

He should've found out what his daughter was capable of. But Dracula was so wrapped up in trying to hide her from his father. Now he was paying for it.

"You said-" Mavis began to tremble. "You said only bad vampires control fire."

"No Mavis." Dracula shook as he took his daughter's hand. "Only the vampires that are in tune with the darkness that rests within them."

"Dracula." Frank had his jaw clenched. "What do you mean darkness?"

Dracula rubbed his side, which was starting to hurt. So was his head. The knife Evangeline had stabbed him with most likely had a silver blade, which could poison vampires easily. He was starting to wonder why he hadn't died. The pain was making him weary, so Dracula decided to just explain everything to his friends, knowing very well that he would pay for it later.

"Every vampire is made up of both light and darkness. It is what makes us immortal, what gives us our strengths. But some are more tuned into thier dark side then others. They are the ones that commonly appear in human horror stories of blood and gore. They are shown to control fire and shadow. They are the ones who can't control thier desire for blood."

Johnathon wrapped his arms around Mavis's waist comfortingly. The werewolf kids began to sniff thier way in. One yelped, buut one look from Wanda sent him to silence.

"A long, long time ago a phrophecy was made, addressing the curse that had kept monsters and humans apart for years. It was originally written in Romanian, but translations of it went to vampires all over the world, so that everyone knew about it. It said that a decendant of the Blackthorne line would break the curse and bring peace between monsters and humans." Dracula looked at his friends carefully. "Did Auntie tell you that?"

"Uh, no." Wayne muttered, looking slightly perple

"The dark curse shall reappear." Griffith murmured, remembering the line in the phrophecy.

"Where did you learn that?" Dracula looked alarmed.

"It was written on the back of the Blackthorne's Son poster." Frank replied.

"Ah." Dracula leaned back against the chair, feeling tired. "Auntie did it?"

Frank nodded.

Johnathon swallowed. "So...you're Blackthorne's Son, huh?"

Dracula thought about lying, but something told him not to. He just gave a nod of confirmation.

Tears filled Wanda's eyes. Wayne hugged her. "Drac...I'm so sorry." He whispered.

"It's fine. Nothing can be done now." A tone of bitterness had crept into Dracula's voice. "But now-maybe it wasn't his fault."

Dracula's friends looked at him like he was nuts.

"Are you kidding me?" Murray shouted. "Your dad tried to kill you, twice, apparantly, and he killed your-"Murray stopped, looking guilty, then continued. "-he tried to kill us too. How was that not his fault?"

"My father isn't the only villain in this, Murray." Dracula said slowly. "He's only a figurehead."

"Are you kidding? There's a guy more powerful then your dad?" Griffith said angrily. "Who is it?"

"Raul Anul." Dracula murmured.

"Huh?" Everyone looked confused. But one person did know who Dracula meant.

"The Boogeyman." Frank whispered. Now everyone's jaw dropped.

"Aw man. That's who we're really up against?" Griffith gasped.

"Wait! The Boogeyman-he's real too?" Johnathon squeaked.

"He's the manifestation of darkness." Wayne explained in horror. "He's literally the head of everything evil. Thankfully, he can't leave the Underworld, which is the place of the dead, but if he did-"

"We would be toast." Eunice finished.

"The Underworld?" Johnathon asked quizzically.

"You know, the place where spirits go when they die." Mavis said. "That's what it mainly is. But it's also the world of darkness."

"Explain please."

"This world is where light lives. The Underworld is where darkness lives. Our worlds connect in a way where humans go to the Underworld when they die and demons make thier homes here." Mavis explained. "The Boogeyman-" Mavis hesitated. "The Boogeyman is literally the source of all darkness. If we had to go against him-" Mavis swallowed.

'We'd be toast." Murray said, quoting Eunice.

"Now do you understand why I must do this alone?" Dracula asked, feeling relieved. "Now do you get it?" dracula prayed that they would just leave him to do his task. Then they'd be safe.

Frank snorted. "Drac, if you really think you're doing this alone, you're crazy."

"Yeah. We're a part of this too." Johnathon said.

Dracula stared at them, frustration starting to show on his face.

"I do not accept your help." He said flatly. "It's my phrophecy. Leave it to me."

"Dad." Mavis said calmly.

"What?"

"We aren't asking."

A/N-Sorry for the later-then-usual update, my life's been crazy lately. I'm planning to go through and edit the first few chapters to make it easier to read. Anyway, Happy 4th of July! Wanted to say that now, because the next update will probably be after the fourth.


	16. Trust

CHAPTER 15-TRUST  
"And tears come streaming down your face,  
When you lose someone you can't replace,  
When you love someone, but it goes to waste,  
Could it be worse?"  
-Coldplay, 'Fix You'

"No." Dracula said firmly.

"Too late." Griffith said shaking his head.

"You don't know what you're saying!" Dracula snapped.

"Actually, we do." Frank said. "Drac, we almost watched you die. We met your f - Blackthorne. We saw those shadow-things. We've seen the phrophecy. We know exactly what's at stake, what's going on. We can help you. You just have to let us-"

"Frank!"

"Dracula." Frank retorted back. "Look, if the world's gonna end, and if you're the only one that could stop it, then we want to help you. We're your friends Drac. You don't have to do this alone."

Dracula shook his head. "You're making a big mistake."

Murray grinned. "Hey, we've been doing crazy stuff since we were teenagers. If we can sneak into the ladies' dressing room, we can stop the Boogeyman. No prob."

It wasn't much, but Dracula almost smiled. Then the grim sadness returned to his eyes.

"Once he knows you all know, you'll all be targets." Dracula said sadly.

They weren't sure if 'he' was Blackthorne, the Boogeyman himself, or another terrifying figure, but either way, Dracula's words weren't very encouraging. Then Johnathon broke the silence.

"Drac." He said. "What is the 'dark curse' exactly?"

Mavis gave her boyfriend a quizzical look. "Well, it's the-" Mavis paused unsure of herself.

Dracula placed a hand on her shoulder. "The Boogeyman himself cast the curse." He said. "Raul Anul always hated humans. He considered them the lower species, which in a way, they are. No offense Johnathon."

Johnathon shrugged. "None taken."

"I thought the curse existed from the beginning of time." Wayne questioned.

Dracula shook his head. "That's what everybody thinks. But the Boogeyman wanted the Underworld and Earth to be kept apart. So he cast a spell, sifting the humans' prejudice towards us. Looking at Johnathon, I'm beginning to think that over the years, the curse hasn't affected humans as much as it did in the old times."

"What do you mean?" Johnathon asked.

"Johnny, the curse was meant to keep the monster and human worlds apart." Frank explained. "I think Drac is right-it doesn't affect humans as much as it did in the old days. Look at you in Mavis. A zing between you two would have been impossible in like, the 1800's or before that."

"That-actually makes sense." Mavis thought aloud. She was still trying to comprehend that had she lived during the 1800's, she never would have fallen in love with Johnathon. Or worse-Johnathon would have never fallen in love with her. "But is that the only reason humans hated us?"

Dracula cleared his throat. "Mostly." He said. "But there are monsters who have done-horrific things to humans, which didn't exactly help the curse at all."

"How do you know all this?" Johnathon asked.

Dracula snorted. "My line's been tied to the phrophecy for years. Trust me, I should know."

"One more question." Johnathon began but hesitated. "If-it's all right with you."

"Why wouldn't it be all right with me?" Dracula asked.

Johnathon bit his lip. "Why would your father-you know."

If Dracula's expression wasn't dark enough, it turned darker, with a hint of anger, and grief. Frank gave the human boy an angry look. Johnathon looked guilty.

"Sorry." Johnathon said quickly. "I shouldn't have asked, it's none of my buissiness-"

"It's all right Jonnathon." Dracula rubbed his forehead.

"No it's not. Look, you don't have to tell me anything."

"No, I should. Mavis, at least, should know." Dracula clutched his side again. "The Boogeyman ripped out his heart."

Wanda looked horrified. Wayne swallowed. "What?"

"Vampires don't need thier heart to live. But they do need it to stay to the light, to not turn evil." Dracula bit his lip. "I never considered that's what happened to my father until now. I think the Boogeyman visited my father when I was born, and took his heart, literally ripping it out of his chest. My father was immediately turned. He became the Boogeyman's lapdog, that would do anything for him." Dracula was quiet before he continued. "He would even kill my mother."

Frank swallowed. Mavis's hand flew into Johnathon's, her mind trying to imagine her father as a little boy, the same little boy in the poster, having to grow up with a father that would kill him and his mother both in a heartbeat.

She couldn't do it.

"After what happened-in Salem, I took my grandmother's maiden name, and went to live with Aunt Rossete. She and I both cast as much protection spells as we could, and I tried to live my life, as far away from my father as I could. It was fine. My father didn't find me, I'm sure he thought I was dead. I had a normal life, as normal as a vampire could have it." Dracula looked at his four friends and his daughter. "You know the story from there." He was quiet again. "I'm sure what happened to my father happened to Evangeline."

"Oh man." Griffith sighed.

Frank stared intesely at the wall, as if it had all the answers to thier problems just lying within the plaster. He definately seemed lost in thought.

Dracula drummed his fingers on the chair leg when a thought struck him and filled him with fear.

"What happened to the hotel?" Dracula asked nervously.

Frank looked away. Johnathon's eyes widened, and the rest of the monster's eyes looked guilty.

"Um, Drac, you might wanna...sit down." Johnathon said anxiously.

Dracula rolled his eyes.

"Oh. Yeah. You're already sitting down." Johnathon laughed nervously, then turned to Frank. "Um...you explain."

"What happened?" Dracula whispered.

"Blackthorne...after you got stabbed, he...declared the hotel his, and, well..." Murray looked sad. "He must've decided he didn't want it, because when Mavis came back after scouting..."

Choking on her sobs, Mavis pulled out something from her pocket. She opened Dracula's hand, and deposited a handful of ash into Dracula's palm.

Dracula was still. So still, it looked like he would shatter into a million pieces if he moved.

"Rossete found us in the tunnels." Wayne continued quietly. "She brought you back, and took us to her mansion. Everyone. There were...a few casualties though. Helga. One of the suits of armor. A couple others. Everyone else is panicking. They can't go home though. We're afraid something worse will happen."

"How long has it been?" Dracula murmured.

Wayne winced. "The Blood Moon's tommorow night." He muttered sadly. Dracula's jaw clenched.

One day left.

The hotel was gone. There had been casualties. Helga. The witch who had had a crush on him. One of his men.

As well as Martha. Who had been gone for years.

And his mother.

His future was a lost cause.

What would be taken from him next?

Looking at the faces around him, Dracula had no idea who his father would use against him.

No. His father was one of the victims, Dracula realized with a start. Or maybe he had knew it along, and he was just acknowledging it now. But none of this was his father's fault, in honesty. Blackthorne being used as a puppet. It was hard for Dracula to comprehend, given the image of his father that he had grown up knowing. But Blackthorne was more of a figurehead. None of the current events were his fault. It was the fault of the one who had originally cast the curse.

Raul Anul. The Boogeyman. He was the real puller behind the strings.

And somehow, Dracula had to stop him, whatever he was planning.

"I need to speak with the guests." Was all he said though.

"Er-I don't think that's a good idea." Frank said. "They're all kinda...mad."

"That's why I need to speak with them." Dracula tried to stand up, but he doubled over, clutching his side. Johnathon slid his arm under the Count's shoulder, supporting his weight. Griffith took Dracula's other arm.

"Thank you." Dracula muttered. "Frank, assemble the guests."

"Drac, are you sure?" Frank asked worriedly.

"Positive." With that, Johnathon and Griffith helped Dracula walk out of the room.

"Hey! Listen up!" Mavis yelled to her angry audience. "Hey!"

"We want to go home!" A gremlin shrieked.

"Yeah! We don't wanna be around when the world ends!" One of the hydra heads chimed in.

"Let us speak to Dracula!" The fly yelled.

"Yes?" All heads turned. The hotel manager was limping to the front of the crowd, with the help of Griffith and Johnathon.

"Listen, Dracula!" One of the skeletons shouted. "I don't care who this Blackthorne guy is, but he's frickin' crazy no doubt."

"You have no idea." Dracula muttered under his breath.

"Listen pal." the skeleton growled. "If the world's gonna end, I want to spend my last days in my house with my wife!" A chorus of shouts of agreement followed his words.

"You cannot leave!" Dracula snapped, only to be met with boos and roars. "I'm sincerely sorry, but if you leave, you'll be in even greater danger then you already are now!"

"Why?" Another gremlin shouted.

"Trust me, you will. Just listen-" Dracula's words were drowned out by the roar by the crowd.

"HEY!" Dracula snarled, and one of the windows behind him exploded. Everyone was instantly quiet. There was practically fire in Dracula's eyes, which scared everyone, even Dracula's close friends.

Finally, the last surviving witch maid broke the silence.

"How do we know we can even trust you?" She screamed.

Johnathon and Griffith felt Dracula wince. Whether it was from the witch's words or his wound, they didn't know.

"What are you talking about?" Dracula said as calmly as he could.

"Is Count Blackthorne really your father?" The witch asked.

Mavis's eyes narrowed. Her face said her thoughts loud and clear: 'Say one more word lady, and I'll rip your head off.'

But her father didn't even flinch. He hesitated, but nothing more.

"Yes." Dracula responded.

Cries of fear filled the room. The witch who had asked looked astonished.

"But you can trust me." Dracula added.

"How do we know that?" The fly demanded.

Another hesistation came from the Count. His eyes closed, and his fists clenched.

"Drac?" Johnathon whispered.

From the back of the crowd, Rossete watched her nephew. Worried, she bit her lip. She wondered vaguely what was going on in his head, but she had a feeling she knew.

_Rossete watched her little nephew as he watched from the hillside below. She had rescued him from the prison they had kept him in, and they had escaped. Blackthorne had left before the time of the planned execution, so he most likely thought his son was in the middle of his execution right about now._

_"Vlad?" The young boy didn't look at her. _

_"Vlad." Rossete kneeled next to him. Sorrow was fresh in her face. "We need to go."_

_"She mentioned me taking another name." Vlad muttered. "Before..." He didn't finish._

_Rossete bit her lip. She was silent for a moment._

_"Dracula."_

_Vlad turned to look at her, startled. "What?"_

_"That's the last name your mother chose for you." Rossete explained. "In case...something happened."_

_"Dracula..." The boy murmured._

_"Vladdie please." Rossete tugged on his sleeve desperately._

Dracula remembered that moment better then any other of his memories. He remembered his aunt breaking him out of the little cage the Salem citizens had him in. He remembered fleeing for his life. He remembered the hot rage that had been spilling out of him as he fled, and by the time he looked down from that hill, Salem was on fire.

_At that moment, Vlad realized he couldn't let his father find him. He never wanted to see him again. So Vlad decided that if his father would quit looking for him, Vladislav Blackthorne the second would have to die. He wouldn't mind that. His mother's final words were ringing in his head, and he felt like he was an actual monster. Every monster eventually had to be killed. That was how it worked._

_"Auntie?" He whispered._

Rossete closed her own eyes as she heard the little vampire's voice ring in her head. She had responded, of course she did. But looking back, she wished she hadn't.

_"Yes Vladdie?"_

_"Vladislav Blackthorne is dead." Vlad looked up at her, bright eyes surprisingly cold for one so young._

_"What do you mean?" Rossete swallowed._

_"I killed him." He said simply. "I'm not him anymore." He turned back at the burning Salem._

_"Then who are you sweetie?" Rossete prayed that the boy wouldn't actually kill himself._

_"I'm Dracula." Vlad said quietly._

_Louie came up from behind them and, hearing the conversation, moaned nervously. Rossete stared at her nephew, beginning to fill with a strange mixture of dread and hope._

In the present, Louie again came up from behind her. Rossete opened her eyes.

Louie moaned, bringing Dracula out of his stupor. When he opened his own eyes, he saw everyone staring at him intently, waiting for his answer. Waiting to see if they could trust him.

"Because." Dracula said simply. "I'm a Dracula. Not a Blackthorne."

"Okay. So that means we can automatically trust you?" A gremlin snapped.

"No. It doesn't." Dracula faced the gremlin without any emotion. "You have to decide that yourself. I won't force you." He turned his gaze away from the gremlin and to the rest of his audience. "But there is a fight coming. The world is in grave danger in falling to darker parts of the world, and you're just going to leave?" Glares were thrown his way, but Dracula held his ground. "I won't make you fight. But we will greatly appreciate your help." The glares had softened. Dracula swallowed, hoping they wouldn't kill him before the Blood Moon even came. "Again, it's all up to you." Dracula finished.  
Silence filled the air, silence so thick that you could cut it with a knife. Dracula felt, with dissapointment, that no one was going to help. Oh well, he had given him a choice. Then, someone moved in the front of the crowd. It was the head suit of armor, the head of security that had kept the guests in line for centuries.

"I trust you sir." He said simply. "And I will be more then happy to kick your daddy's butt."

Dracula smiled. "Thank you. It's much appreciated."

"Heck yeah!" Eunice dashed in next to Dracula. "Come ON people." She said, doing a neck roll. "Are we really going to let some jerk burn down our hotel and get away with it?!"

Her audience swallowed. None of them wanted to recieve Blackthorne's wrath, but at the moment, they were more scared of Eunice than a phychotic vampire who had almost killed them once.

"Well are we?!" Eunice shreiked.

"No." Came the weak reply.

"Seriously? That's it?" Eunice rolled her eyes.

"NO!"

"Uh-huh. That's what I thought." The bride of Frankenstein gave them a glare. "So let's go kick some Blackthorne butt!"

A roar bigger then the all the ones before erupted. Dracula breathed a sigh of relief. Leave it to Eunice to threaten the crowd. He should've left the whole 'get the guests to form an army' thing to her.

"So now what?" Griffith asked Dracula. "Aren't you going to tell them about the Boogeyman?''

"Not yet." Dracula replied. "I just got them on my side. Well, technically Eunice did."

Griffith nodded like that's what he expected.

Rossete shoved her way throught the hectic crowd and gave her nephew a hug. Mavis followed her through and clung to Johnathon's arm. Frank and

Wayne managed to get through as well and joined the group.

"Now what?" Wayne asked.

Rossete pulled away from her nephew. "Dracula told the truth." She said. Then she turned to address the crowd. "There is indeed a fight coming." Rossete called. Silence fell and eyes watched her intently. "So prepare for a fight more intense than anything you've ever known." Rossete said. "We are at war. And that war's gonna end tommorow night."

That seemed to seal the deal. Somehow, the mention of a war immediately brought out the hotel guests' inner beasts that had been hidden for centuries. Everyone who had originally hesitated were now at Rossete and Dracula's disposal. Cries of enthusiasm erupted throughout the mass of hotel guests.

It was a war. As Dracula watched his friends, his family, he knew his aunt was right. This war had been fought for centuries. It had began with the Curse and it was going to end on the Blood Moon.

And like the phrophecy had said, he was the one who was going to end it. For once, he didn't mind that part.

Dracula had a feeling, that even though he had tried to keep his friends out of the phrophecy, out of his past, in reality, they had been involved all along.

It felt good. It felt good to know he had never really been alone.

As the night went by, Frank knew Dracula was pushing himself too far.

The wound was taking it's toll. It's victim was growing increasingly pale, and Dracula couldn't even walk without support from one of his friends or the wall. Mavis stayed by his side, worrying that he would eventually pass out. Johnathon pleaded with him to go back to bed and rest up. Dracula, being Dracula, completely ignored him. Finally, Rossete put her foot down and ordered him to rest. He probably would have flat-out ignored Rossete, but since his precious little Mavy-Wavy was more than begging him to listen, he finally surrendered, much to everyone's relief.

Once Dracula was asleep, Johnathon went up to Rossete with a question he was afraid to ask the Count himself.

"Hey, um, Rossete?" Rossete immediately turned to face the human boy.

"Yes?" She replied.

"Um, can I-talk to you for a minute?" Johnathon rubbed the back of his neck.

"Of course." Rossete followed him past the suits of armor who were trying to figure out how to convert pots and pands into deadly weapons into a large closet, which Johnathon shut behind him.

"So...yeah. Drac mentioned something about the Boogeyman cutting out his dad's heart?" Rossete's eyebrows lifted up. "I just wanted to ask, what's that about?" Johnathon finished quickly.

Rossete sighed. Then a knick came from the closet door, and Frank peeked his head in.

"Aunt Rosy?" He asked.

"Come in, Frank." She muttered. Frank came in, squeezing his masssive body frame the best he could into the closet.

"What's up?" Frank asked. "I saw you two come in here."

"Look, Rossete, you don't need to answer my question." Johnathon said quickly. "I was just-curious."

"It's all right Johnathon." Rossete replied.

"What question?" Frank looked nervous. "Is everything okay?"

"I was just wondering if the Boogeyman could actually pull out people's hearts." Johnathon deadpanned.

"Oh." Frank looked down anxiously.

"And to answer your question, yes he can. Though, he can only do it with vampires." Rossete explained quietly.

"How come?" Johnathon asked.

Frank wasn't sure if he should be hearing this. But it was something he was curious/horrified about. He didn't want to think about Raul Anul pulling out

peoples' hearts to make them his servants, but it was something he wanted to know about.

"Vampires don't need thier hearts to live." Rossete muttered. "We need them to feel compassion. We need them to feel love. The heart is the center of a vampire's emotions. If a heart is taken out, then a vampire can turn evil." Rossete was quiet for a moment. It was obvious she was thinking about Blackthorne. "It's easier to turn evil when you have no emotions." Rossete added.

Frank's head snapped up. An idea was starting to form in his brain.

"Jeez." Johnathon gulped. "I'm liking the Boogeyman less and less."

"Wait." Frank interuptted. "What does Raul Anul do with the hearts he rips out?"

Johnathon looked unnerved with the question. Rossete just gave Frank an odd look.

"What?" She asked.

"Well, if the Boogeyman rips out his servants' hearts to get them on his side, what does he do with them?" Frank asked.

Rossete bit her lip thoughtfully. "I suppose..." She said slowly. "I suppose he keeps them somewhere in the Underworld."

"Where?" Frank pressed.

"I don't know." Rossete shrugged.

"I was thinking, that if we returned Blackthorne's heart to Blackthorne, he could be good again." Frank said excitedly.

Rossete opened her mouth then closed it. Then she shook her head, and Frank's excitement evaporated.

"Why not?" He demanded.

"Frank, the Underworld's dangerous. To get Blackthorne's heart, you'll have to go to the Underworld."

"But didn't every monster get thier origins from the Underworld?" Frank asked angrily.

"Not without a cost." Rossete replied.

_"It's time, my son." The tarp covered the body that was hooked up to all the homemade electrical conductors. Viktor Frankenstein rubbed his hands together nervously._

_"Let the world know that on this day, the laws of physics shall be broken! Let the world remember the name of Dr. Frankenstein!" Viktor shrieked. Outside the laboratory window, lightning flashed. Viktor fired up the conductors, amd opened the skylight. The man could hardly contain his excitement as lightening struck the body and he himself was thrown back. The laboratory rumbled. Glass test tubes shattered. Electricity flowed throughout the body on the table. Then, the lightning faded, and all that was left was nothing._

_Viktor gathered himself, and stood up._

_"You have failed." A voice boomed._

_"Who's there?" Viktor began to grow nervous as he picked up a dagger-sized piece of glass. Laughter rang out, and Viktor heard the sound of hooves galloping above him. The rain disoriented Viktor's vision. Without warning, a dark shape flew down from the skylight and thudded in front of the mad scientist._  
_Viktor gasped as he took in the sight before him. It was a dark stallion the size of a house, with giant hooves and a flowing mane. Everything about the horse radiated evil._

_"What are you?" Viktor whispered. The horse dipped his head._

_"They call me many names. The King of Evil. The essence of darkness. But many call me Raul Anul."_

_"The Boogeyman." Viktor whispered. "But it can't be!"_

_"You have failed to create your monster." The Boogeyman whispered. "A mortal man cannot create life from only a dead man and electricity. You need the help of magic."_

_"What kind? Dark magic?" Viktor snarled. "No thank you. I am not a fool!"_

_"I will not ask for anything." The Boogeyman defended. "I will bring the monster boy to life. No charge."_

_Viktor's eyes narrowed as he considered. _

_"Your name will be known around the world." The Boogeyman crooned. "They will call you 'Frankenstein-The Master of Life."_

_Viktor's eyes narrowed. Not of hatred, but of greed, desperation. He badly wanted to prove his colleagues wrong, that he was not some crazy quack who toiled on the impossible. The Boogeyman was influencing him, Viktor could feel it. But he didn't care. Allhis life he wanted to be respected. With that in mind, the proffesor agreed._

_"Very well." He murmured._

_The Boogeyman's face was that of delight. The horse stamped his hooves, and the murmuring began. Viktor's ears began to ring. Lightly at first, but then it grew intense. Viktor screamed, the ringing growing louder, and louder, until it was deafening. The ringing would drive him mad, he knew it._  
_Then in stopped. The dark horse smirked._

_"Humans." It mused. "So pathetic. They all want to be heard. They all know they're pathetic, some more then others. But in the end, thier actions are predictable."_

_"What did you do?" Viktor screamed._

_"Your life is forever binded to darkness." The Boogeyman continued. "You will have your monster, but you will forever live in darkness, and you will die by it. And I will decide when you die."_

_Viktor's face contorted in anger. He threw his glass at the monster, but the horse seemed to evaporate, until all that was left was the sound of laughter ringing in Viktor's ears._

_The man crumpled to the ground, next to the covered body of his creation. Then his head jerked up. He heard breathing. Viktor stumbled to his feet and staggered over the monster. He then pulled off the tarp._

_The monster's face was a sight to see. It appeared to be the face of a young boy, parts of it stitched together. But Viktor didn't care about that. He held his finger in fron't of it's nose, and felt a short puff of breath on his finger. Then another. Viktor smiled._

_He wasn't exactly sure what the Boogeyman did to him. But at least his experiment was a sucess._

A/N-So far, I think this chapter's my favorite, cause it has in it. I've read Frankenstain so many times I've lost count. It's one of my favorite books. Anyway, so sorry for the late update. I would've updated sooner, but my mom seems determined to get me out of the house.


	17. Broken and Hidden Hearts

CHAPTER 16-BROKEN AND HIDDEN HEARTS  
"This love has taken its toll on me,  
She said Goodbye too many times before  
Her heart is breaking in front of me,  
But I have no choice, cause I won't say goodbye anymore."  
-Maroon 5, 'This Love'

Evangeline followed Blackthorne through the ashes of Hotel Transylvania. She was having a hard time hiding her delight. As far as she knew, Dracula was dead. And she, Evangeline Trandafir, had killed him herself. She had also helped Blackthorne burn Dracula's precious hotel to the ground, but what was the fun of that when he was already dead and couldn't feel the pain?

"I am impressed with your contribution to our master's plans, Evangeline." Blackthorne said, interrupting Evangeline's thoughts. "Are you certain you have indeed killed my son?"

"Yes my lord." Evangeline replied. Something about Blackthorne's voice made her shudder when he mentioned Dracula, his own son. But Evangeline brushed it away like it was nothing but an annoying little fly. Fear was something she had gotten rid of long ago.

"Then you have won an excellent honor, my dear." Blackthorne said. "Raul Anul himself wishes to speak with you."

Evangeline's heart leaped. The legendary Boogeyman himself, the symbol of all darkness and chaos wanted to speak with her?

"When?" She asked eagerly.

Blackthorne turned to face her. "Now." He said.

Evangeline swallowed, and bit her lip. For once, after two-hundred years, she was nervous. Blackthorne motioned for her to follow him, which she did.  
Blackthorne took her to what was once Hotel Transylvania's lobby. The shadows lurked in and out of the burnt furniture, a sign that Blackthorne had made the lobby his own headquarters. A massive crystal ball had been set up in the middle. Evangeline recalled the conversation between her and Blackthorne about the matter. He had said that crystal balls were used by soothsayers as links to the Underworld, to the Boogeyman, who told them the future. Raul Anul had once been worshipped by seers far and wide, before Thalia Tepes, Rossete and Genevieve's great-grandmother, had put that to an end.

Evangeline's eyes narrowed at the thought of another one of Dracula's relatives taking part in the effort to weaken the Boogeyman. From what she had been told, most of Dracula's ancestors and relatives had been thorns in Raul Anul's side for centuries. That was part of the reason Evangeline had chosen to ally herself to Blackthorne; She knew it was a deep betrayal to Dracula, which is exactly what he had done to her. He had broken her heart, stomped on it, and tossed it to the wolves for good measure.

When Evangeline had stabbed him, she could read his thoughts. He actually had believed there was good in her! What he didn't know was that he was the one who had unleashed her dark side, he was the one who had introduced her to chaos. By breaking her heart, he had given her to the Underworld, unintentionally, yes, but it had been done.

Evangeline was brought out of the past by the sound of humming coming from the crystal ball. Mist swirled around it's interior, and Blackthorne kneeled. She followed his suit. The mist formed a rough outline of a face, one that couldn't be seen clearly except for the eyes, which were alternately bright red and pitch black.

"So." They hissed. "This is the woman who killed the chosen Blackthorne."

Evangeline translated this in her head as, 'this is the woman who killed Dracula.'

"I am her." She confirmed.

"Leave us Blackthorne." The Boogeyman commanded.

Blackthorne stood, and walked away, shadows trailing after him. Evangeline swallowed, knowing very well that she was alone.

"Stand." The Boogeyman ordered. Evangeline stood.

"I believe you need to know." He said calmly. "That Dracula is not dead."

Rage immediately boiled up inside of her. "What?!" Evangeline fumed. "But I killed him! I know I did!"

"You almost suceeded." The Boogeyman boomed. "But his blasted wife and aunt somehow managed to bring hm back."

Martha and Rossete. Evangeline snarled, flames immediately blooming up around her. Even dead, that little mouse that Dracula had married still managed to defy her. And Evangeline wasn't even going to get started on Dracula's aunt. In many ways, she was worse than Martha.

"I'll kill him again then!" Evangeline shreiked.

"Quiet!" The Boogeyman snapped, eyes glowing red, before settling back to black. "I must admit, I admire your anger. I didn't even need to pull out your heart to get you on my side. That is why I have chosen you for a special task."

Evangeline's anger died down, and her ears perked up. "What kind of task?" She asked.

"As you know, I cannot occupy the mortal world without a host." The Boogeyman said. "That is where you come in."

Uneasiness began to settle in Evangeline. "My lord?"

"I want you to be my host." The Boogeyman explained.

Evangeline swallowed. Suddenly, the crystal ball seemed to tower over her. Everything seemed to big as she tried to process the Boogeyman's words.

"I-" The words stuck inside of Evangeline's throat.

"Think through this carefully." Raul Anul continued. "Your hatred of Dracula is admirable. How far are you willing to go to get the revenge you rightfully deserve?"

_Evangeline nervously pushed her glasses up her nose. Her ball gown was slightly wrinkled, as she had flown here. On the dance floor, couples swirled to the music. Ball gowns swirled in an intricate pattern around the girl, who checked the time nervously. He should be here by now. Where was he?_

_Evangeline's heart leapt at the thought of Dracula-his eyes, his charisma, the way he could almost sweep her off her feet, yet there was shyness there that __seemed genuinely nervous around girls. But lately, he had been spending more time with that mouse Martha instead of her. They had met on Dracula's trip to Hawaii, and ever since then, Evangeline had grown increasingly jealous of Martha. _

_Not that she liked it. Jealousy wasn't in Evangeline's nature, or she hoped it wasn't, but every time Dracula looked at Martha, or she looked at him, or if they looked at eachother, hot envy always coursed through Evangeline's veins._

_"Angie?" Evangeline jumped, and whirled around. There he was, in a black tuxedo that went perfectly with his velvet cape. Dracula's four friends were there as well, also dressed up._

_"Drac!" She ran over and gave him a hug. "Where have you been?"_

_"I need to talk to you." Dracula swallowed nervously. "In private, please."_

_"What's wrong?" Her gaze seemed to make him flinch. "Drac?"_

_"We'll be dancing." Frank put in, and ushered the werewolf, mummy, and invisible man away from the couple._

_Dracula took Evangeline's hand and led her out of the ballroom and onto a balcony. The view was breathtaking, but Evangeline was in no mood to enjoy it. She faced Dracula, who didn't seem to want to look at her._

_"What is it Drac?" Evangeline's fingers laced with his._

_"Angie, I won't lie to you." Dracula began. "You're an amazing woman. And I would never, ever dream of hurting you. But-" Dracula swallowed, like this was hurting him. "I don't think our relationship is...meant to be."_

_Evangeline froze. Her heart seemed to stop. She ran her tongue over her fangs, and bit her lip. When she finally spoke, she was close to tears. "What?"_

_"I'm sorry." Dracula's eyes found hers. "I swear on my existence that I would never want to hurt you."_

_"But you're already hurting me!" Evangeline was pratically choking on her sobs. She clung to Dracula's hand, not wanting to let him go. She never wanted to let him go._

_"Do you think I want to do this?" Dracula beginning to tear up. "Angie, you're like my sister. But I don't think our relationship can be taken to a romatic level. I've realized this only recently. If we continue our affair-"_

_"Stop!" Evangeline screamed._

_"We'll only end up hurting ourselves!" Dracula shouted, and inhaled sharply. Evangeline felt like she was falling, plunging into a dark abyss where no one could go after her, where no one could save her._

_"Is this about Martha?" Evangeline said steadily._

_Dracula adverted his gaze. And she knew she was right._

_"You're casting me out for her!" Evangeline shrieked. "She told you to end our relationship!"_

_"She never even mentioned it!" Dracula snapped. "I'm ending this on my own terms. I'm trying my best not to hurt you, but you're not making this easy!"_

_"Ever since you've met her, you've barely seen me!" Evangeline screamed. "You told me that you loved me once! But you didn't! You damn lied to me! You let me believe in you!"_

_"Evangeline." She could tell Dracula was trying not to get upset. He seemed to be trying to pick his words. Finally, he found them. "Goodbye. I'm sorry." With that, he pulled his hand out of hers._

_Sobbing, Evangeline struck him in the face._

_"Fine!" She screamed. "Go and have your pretty little Martha! Go and be happy together!" Evangeline remembered the last time she had seen them together. The way Dracula had looked at Martha. He had never looked at her that way. "I don't care!" _

_That was a lie. She knew it was. Trying to wipe away her tears, she shoved past Dracula, who tried to stop her, and supposedly to help her. Outside, Martha and Wanda were waiting for her. Wanda was expecting her first pup. Evangeline remembered how happy she had been for her. Now Wanda was standing next to Martha. Even Evangeline's best friend had turned against her._

_Evangeline stormed over to Martha and struck her in the face, just like she had done to Dracula. She heard Wanda gasp, and that brought her a little pleasure._

_"Evangeline." Martha gasped, holding her throbbing cheek. "Please don't act like this."_

_Evangeline stuck her nose into Martha's face. "Don't even try to apologize to me." She hissed. "I loved him!"_

_"I'm sorry." Martha whispered, and for some ungodly reason, tears began to fill her eyes. Which infuriated Evangeline._

_She lifted her hand to strike Martha again. Martha shrank away, Wanda taking her hand. Someone grabbed Evangeline and yanked her hand away from Martha. She fought against Dracula's grip._

_"Angie, please stop." He begged. _

_Evangeline yanked her wrist away, and gave Dracula a withering look._

_"I don't want to see you again." Evangeline sobbed. "So stay away from me!" _

_She turned into a bat and flew away._

_She never looked back, because all she was aware of was her heart breaking._

Evangeline's eyes narrowed.

"As far as it takes." She replied to the Boogeyman's question.

Raul Anul smirked. "I thought so. Will you be my host?"

"I will."

The Boogeyman smiled. "Together, we will destroy Dracula."

And with that, his image faded from the crystal ball.

Dracula lay in bed, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his abdomen. He prayed he would still be able to go up against Raul Anul on the night of the Blood Moon. Then his thoughts drifted to Evangeline.

Maybe once he had loved her. But then he realized in time that he considered her more of a sister then a lover. Dracula had hoped that she had thought of him the same way. He was so miserably wrong.

Watching her heart break was horrible. He had hated watching her cry. Martha had taken it even worse, She had been fond of Evangeline. The two had been remarkably similar, and Martha had hoped that they would become something like sisters someday. She had cried even harder then Evangeline had.

But love found a way to survive. Dracula knew that he would only love Martha in all of his immortal life. It was hard to let Evangeline go, but it had to be done. He loved Martha, and he couldn't be with her if he was already with Evangeline.

Dracula fingered the golden necklace at the thought of Martha. He had actually talked to her. It felt good to hear her voice again, and the memory of it made Dracula almost wanted to cry, something he hadn't done in years.

She was in danger though.

_'The dead can't even hide anymore.'_ Her voice rang in his head. Dracula's fists closed around the red stone. He wouldn't let the Boogeyman take anything else. Even if his injury ended up killing him, Dracula would take the Boogeyman down with him. Especially not Martha. Or Evangeline. Dracula believed that the Boogeyman had some kind of hold on her, and he wanted to break it. Dracula's mind went to Halloween night, when he had almost killed her. He felt sick at the thought. His powers were increasing but it was starting to make him lose control. This was his third bed. Two had caught on fire, and one exploded. Even Mavis had accidently burned Johnathon when they had tried to kiss. But after tommorow night, it would end. Hopefully.

What did Blackthorne want with Evangeline anyway?

As Dracula thought that, he rubbed the stone. A red light distracted his gaze down to the necklace. The jewel was glowing. Startled, Dracula rubbed it harder, then the light overtook his vision-

_"How far will you go my dear?"_

_Evangeline's eyes narrowed as she seemed to be recalling a memory. Finally, she answered._

_"As far as it takes."_

_The eyes in the crystal ball in front of her smirked. "I thought so. Will you be my host?"_

_"I will."_

"Evangeline!" The light scattered, and Dracula dropped the necklace gasping. As soon as the image cleared, Dracula picked up the chain again, staring into the red stone. It showed him nothing more.

_'A seeing stone.'_

Dracula swallowed, and immediately tried to think of any questions that he had. He was surprised at the first one that surfaced:

Is there a way to save my father?

Immediately, Dracula cursed himself for thinking that way, but his finger began to rub the stone again, almost without permission. The red light took over his vision again-

_It was a nightmare world. Shadows screamed, and spirits wailed. They looked like they were being tortured, writhing against the ground. There was nothing but darkness, dirt, and misery._

_Admist it all, was a large mahagony chest. It was tall, but the drawers were tiny, looking barely big enough to hold a pair of shoes. In front of the chest was a hunched figure._

_Dracula frowned. Unlike the vision before, it felt like he was actually in this one. So he tapped the figure on the shoulder._

_"Excuse me?" He questioned._

_"Do you like my collection, Blackthorne's son?" The figure hissed. "I do love collecting hearts."_

_Dracula jumped, and fell backwards._

_"Raul Anul." Dracula growled._

_The Boogeyman smiled, red eyes glowing. He spread his arms out. "Welcome to the Underworld." He smirked. "Looking for your father's heart, are we?"_  
_Dracula's own heart leaped. The Boogeyman laughed. "Unfortunately, you won't survive long enough to return it to him. But I admire your dedication. Even though he wasn't much of a father to you, I'm afraid."_

_"Thanks to you." Dracula spat._

_"Yes."_

_"Why?"_

_Raul Anul raised his eyebrows at Dracula as if the answer should be obvious. "Because of you, of course. You're the one in the phrophecy. After thousands of years, you're the one I've been looking for all my immortal life."_

_Dracula snarled. "Where's my father's heart?"_

_The Boogeyman snorted. "As if I'd give it to you."_

_"You're a monster." Dracula snapped._

_"You know, you're mother said that to me once. And you know what I said?" The Boogeyman sneered in Dracula's face. "I said, 'as are you.' We're both monsters, Vladislav. All of the ones who the humans labeled evil are labeled monsters by even themselves. the humans think they're so mighty! When in reality, they're the lower species. They're the monsters." The Boogeyman's eyes narrowed. "And I intend to destroy every last one of them. And-" Raul Anul smiled, as if the thought brought him delight. "I'll use you to do it."_

_"Fat chance." Dracula rolled his eyes._

_"We'll see." Shadows screamed, and began to swirl around Dracula and the Boogeyman. "And either way, you will be thrust into a nightmare that'll make all your worst fears look like your happy places. And every one of your friends will die."_

_"Leave them out of this!"_

_"I never brought them into our feud. I believe you did that on your own."_

_Suddenly Dracula was standing in ashes. As soon as he looked around, he gasped. Mavis, Rossete, Frank, Johnathon, Griffith, Wayne, Wanda, Murray, Eunice, all of his friends bodies were lying at his feet. Thier eyes were wide open, blank, and blood was oozing out of thier bodies. _

_Dracula knelt next to the blood smears that were staining thin air, what he supposed was Griffith's body. He glared at the Boogeyman, who was standing across from him._

_"What did you do to them?!" Dracula screamed._

_The Boogeyman raised his hands. "I didn't do a thing."_

_Dracula's gaze found his hands, and he cried out. Blood was staining his hands. His claws were out, and they too were covered with blood._

_The Boogeyman hadn't murdered Dracula's friends._

_Dracula had._

_"No." Dracula stumbled forward, then he remembered this was an illusion. He stared cooly at the Boogeyman, trying to ignore his friends' bodies. "Why use __Evangeline as a host?"_

_The Boogeyman smirked. "She has a hatred-a hatred of you-that is perfect for my needs." He said mysteriously. "But let's not change the subject. If you dare defy me, if you try and stop me, I will make your life a living nightmare. I will drive you insane. And then you will die a slow, painful death at my hands." The Boogeyman seemed to recieve pleasure from Dracula's expression. "Oh, vampires with hearts are so emotional. Emotions, Vladislav, make a person weak. And I can use them to destroy you."_

_Dracula held the Boogeyman's glare for a while. Then, he slowly held up his hand, which caught on fire._

_The Boogeyman jumped. "What are you doing?" He snapped._

_"I'm done talking to you. I'm going to wake up." Dracula grabbed his own neck with his fiery hands, and screamed with pain as he caught on fire._

_"You'll never be able to wake up from this!" Dracula had a feeling Raul Anul wasn't talking about the vision. "I will hunt you down and destroy you! But first, you will be your friends' downfall, and you will plunge the mortal world into darkness!"_

_"Shut up." Dracula muttered from the flames. Then, just like he had hoped, the pain became so intense that Dracula blacked out._

A/N-Now you know a little more about Evangeline, and I tried to not make Dracula and Martha sound like jerks, because we all know they're not. The song at the beginning, which I also don't own, (I don't own any of the songs at the beginning of the chapters, BTW) kind of seemed to fit Dracula and Evangeline's story, so I put that in there just cause. Evangeline's an intresting character to write for, since she's so violent and vengeful, but she was once good, like most villains we read about. I wanted to go deeper into her character, but maybe I will in the next chapter. As usual, R&R, you know the drill, and I don't really want to say it in every chapter.


	18. Endgame: Pt 1

CHAPTER 17-ENDGAME:PT.1  
"The cycle repeated, as explosions broke in the sky,  
All that I needed, was the one thing I couldn't find  
And you were there at the turn, waiting to let me know  
We're building it up,  
To break it back down,  
We're building it up, to burn it down,  
We can't wait to burn it to the ground."  
-Linkin Park 'Burn it to the Ground'

Dracula woke up with burn marks on his neck, clear evidence of the nightmare vision. It was still dark outside, but Dracula had an uneasy feeling that he had slept for a long time. He dragged himself to his window, and looked outside.

What he saw caused his heart to leap up into his throat. The moon was low, and from where Dracula was standing, it looked massive. But what really made Dracula uneasy was the reddish color it had aquired.

Blood Moon's night.

It was here.

How long had he been out? When Dracula looked down, he could see that his friends had gathered in the front yard. It looked like his aunt was addressing the massive crowd of hotel guests, now a makeshift army, of what they were up against. Next to Rossete stood Frank, who kept shooting his aunt angry glances. The flesh golem rarely got angry. That didn't help the feeling in Dracula's stomach at all.

Mavis had long gloves on, and it looked like she was concentrating on something. When Johnathon tapped on her shoulder, and she broke out of focus, her gloves caught on fire and burnt to ash. Instead of jumping, Mavis just sighed, waited until the flames died down, reached in her pocket, pulled out another pair of gloves and put them on.

That scene prompted Dracula to grab his cape and stagger out of his room.

Louie was waiting for him in the foyer. He moaned a greeting, and held open the door for Dracula. Before stepping outside though, Dracula put on his cape, and pulled the collar up to cover the burn marks on his neck.

Louie moaned again, and gave him a look that said 'hurry up.' Dracula stared at the zombie for a minute, remembering his decapitated body lying on the ground, his own hands covered in blood...

"Drac!"

A floating pair of glasses bounced over to him. Griffith, appearing eager, clapped him on the back.

"You look a lot better buddy!" Griffith said.

"Thank you." The image of blood smears faded, and Dracula rubbed his side, just to give himself something else to focus on.

"Still a little sore?" Griffith's eagerness seemed to fade a little. "Well either way, you're gonna kick the Boogeyman's butt tonight! I know it!"

Since Dracula couldn't see Griffith's eyes, (no one could) he didn't see the complete and utter panic, worry, and fear in them. But Dracula did sense it. He bit his lip and did his best to look cheerful.

"I'll do my best." He reassured Griffith. "Now let's meet up with the others."

Griffith instantly perked up in relief, and they went outside. Louie sighed, rolled his eyes, and closed the door.

Mavis definately felt relieved when her father came outside, even more so that Louie and Griffith were accompanying him. But she couldn't focus on that for long, as she was doing her best trying to keep her fifth pair of gloves from burning up.

She had starting wearing gloves when she realized she could singe things with a touch. The gloves seemed to weaken the effect. Mavis had been panicked, but Rossete had reassured her that Dracula had suffered from the same thing when he was her age. Frank had also pointed out that he had never noticed Dracula accidently setting fire to things, and had said loudly that Rossete had never let him notice anything important. It had sounded a bit lame, but Rossete had been upset nontheless.

Frank had been upset when he had learned that Rossete had taken part in all the lies. No, not lies. It hadn't been Dracula's fault.

But part of Mavis kept flashing back to when Blackthorne had first arrived at the hotel. The fight between him and Dracula. When Dracula had caught on fire, and almost killed Blackthorne. Mavis knew Blackthorne was evil, but nevertheless, she hoped that her father wouldn't have killed off his own father that easily. The thought made her shudder. It seemed almost...evil. Even worse, he seemed to have lost control over himself. She wondered if he even remembered almost killing his father.

_The side which the chosen contends..._

"Mavis? Are you okay?" Johnathon asked, concerned.

Mavis took a deep breath as thse thoughts faded out. "I'm fine Johnny." She said cheerfully.

"Drac, there's no way you can do this." Frank and Dracula appeared to be in an arguement.

"I have to, and you know it." Dracula snapped.

"Look at yourself! You can barely walk! How are you supposed to defeat Raul Anul and Blackthorne?"

"Go prepare yourselves." Rossete ordered the crowd, who mumbled and shuffled off, not wanting to witness the drama. "It's the phrophecy Frank. None of us can ignore it." Rossete interjected.

"You're really going to sacrifice your own nephew?" Now Frank was glaring at Rossete. "He can't fight!"

"I'm not an infant Frank! I'm perfectly capable of fighting!" Dracula growled angrily.

Frank brooded, and Mavis was slightly stunned. While her father's life hung in the balance, back when the hotel still existed, Frank wasn't this angry. Heck, Mavis didn't even think Frank could get angry. But ever since Dracula revealed the full truth about himself, Frank didn't seem like his normal self. He kept lashing out at Rossete, and was starting to become protective over Dracula. The latter made sense, they were like brothers, but Frank adored Rossete. It would take a lot for him to get angry with her. Wouldn't it?

"Frank." Rossete said pleadingly.

Frank refused to look at her. He growled, and stomped off.

Dracula sighed and shook his head. "He'll bounce back." He told Rossete.

"Are you sure?' Rossete bit her lip.

"Positive. we both know what Frankie's like."

Rossete began to tear up. "Maybe he's right."

"Don't think that." Dracula gave her a stern look.

"But what if he is?" Mavis couldn't stop the words from coming out. "What if..." Mavis couldn't finish. The thought that she might actually lose her father hit her hard, and she began to tear up. She had already lost her mother. What would she do without her father? She would have Johnny, but-it wouldn't be the same. It would never be the same.

"Mavy, it'll be fine." Dracula wiped a tear from Mavis's eye. "Whatever happens, we'll see eachother again, okay?"

A bit confused at Dracula's words, Mavis nodded. It was only after he turned away, Mavis realized what he meant.

If Dracula died, then no one would save the world. Then everyone would die...

Her father was right. Either way, they would see eachother again.

They had been walking for over an hour. Dracula, Frank, Mavis, Johnathon, Rossete, Griffith, Eunice, Murray, Louie, Wayne, Wanda, and the rest werewolves, the suits of armor, and the rest of the hotel guests trudged on, all of them mentally preparing for battle.

_"So you're actually going to come." Raul Anul's voice purred in Dracula's mind. "Straight to your doom. Your leading your loved ones to thier deaths. How selfish."_

_"I'll die first, before I kill them."_ Dracula growled mentally.

_"How noble. Just like your father before I took his heart."_

"_Why are you visiting me now?"_ Dracula thought. "_You could've corrupted me by whispering in my head a long time ago. Why are you speaking to me now?"_

_"Oh, I just wanted to warn you of what's to come."_ The Boogeyman said carelessly.

"Get out of my head." Dracula snapped aloud.

"Huh?" Murray and Wayne gave him a weird look.

"Nothing." Dracula felt his face redden. "Keep moving. We have a long way to go."

Evangeline stood in front of the crystal ball. It was humming, the humming growing louder as the Blood Moon rose higher and higher into the sky. Somehow, Raul Anul would come out of it, and go into her.

The thought didn't make her feel uneasy at all. In fact, she craved the idea of being filled with so much thought of being able to destroy Dracula again.

"They're coming."

The glee in Blackthorne's face was apparant. "They're almost here." He murmured.

The Boogeyman's face appeared in the glass. "The Blood Moon is here." He boomed. "Are you ready, my dear?"

Evangeline smirked. "As ready as I'll ever be."

Raul Anul's eyes turned pitch black. The ground underneath them began to tremble. Cracks began to form in the crystal ball's surface as the Boogeyman's spirit began to flow into Evangeline. She gasped in delight. Never before had she felt such raw power. Never had she felt so alive.

Then it started to hurt. Evangeline winced as the pain grew more and more unbearable. When the crystal ball exploded, she screamed.

Evangeline felt Raul Anul's spirit merge with her body. She felt as though she was literally melting into another person. Dropping to her knees, whispers filled her mind, and darkness threatened to overtake her.

"Evangeline!"

Suddenly her vision cleared. At the sound of Dracula's voice, Evangeline's senses turned sharper. She rose to her feet and glared at the Count and his friends who had assembled behind him.

"Hello Dracula." She snapped. "How do you like my new form?"

Evangeline almost clapped her hands to her mouth, but something kept her hands firmly at her sides. The voice speaking wasn't her own. She had no control over her movements. She felt like she was watching a film, a film that told a story through her own point of view.

"Evangeline?" Dracula looked horrified. Part of her took delight at his expression, another felt a strange sense of sadness. But most of her felt violated. A monster was in her body. She couldn't move on her own. She felt powerless. It all felt wrong.

"What are you doing?" She demanded. "I can't move!"

"Don't you know what a host is, my dear?" The Boogeyman sneered. "You're mine now. A mere puppet. Only I can control you now."

"No!" She screamed.

"You little fool." His words were full of venom. "Don't you know that too much hate can get you killed? It was so easy to manipulate your thoughts all these years. Love is a weakness, and a broken heart is even more so. My dear, you have played right into my hands."

He made shoot a column of fire out of her hands. Dracula and his friends dove out of the way as the shadows began to trail after them.

"Angie, it's me!" Dracula shouted. "Don't do this!"

_"I'm sorry Drac."_ That was what she would've said if she had control over her own tongue. She could see clearer then she ever could ever since Dracula had ran off with Martha. Horrible guilt and shame coursed through. Of course she was still angry with him. But anger did not excuse murder.

Anger did not excuse love.

As much as she hated him, Evangeline still loved him. Maybe her love was the reason for her hate.

Evangeline. Dracula felt his chest tighten as he watched her pitch-black eyes alternate from red to black. The Boogeyman was possesing her. It was clear to see.

The anger was quick to erupt, and flames began to bloom at his feet. The fire grew as his anger did. Fury was quickly starting to take over Dracula's soul.

A/N-Sorry, I would've updated sooner, but I had some summer stuff to do for school. School comes first people, at least according to Mom. I'll try to update again soon.


	19. Endgame: Pt 2

CHAPTER 18-ENDGAME: PT. 2  
"The colors conflicted, as the flames climbed into the clouds,  
I wanted to fix this,  
But couldn't stop from tearing it down,  
And you were there at the turn caught in the burning glow  
And I was there at the turn, waiting to let you know,  
We're building it up, to break it back down,  
We're building it up, to burn it down,  
We can't wait, to burn it to the ground."  
-Linkin Park, 'Burn it to the Ground.'

Frank stopped dodging shadows long enough to see Dracula's glowing red eyes.

"Shoot." Frank cursed, hoping that Dracula wouldn't lose control again, and heaved a large rock through on of the shadows, which only cackled and flew after him.

"Is there no way to destroy these things?" The suit of armor growled just as his sword slashed through another one.

Helga the witch maid was the only one who seemed to be making any progress. She had killed exactly two with her magic before she collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted and drained, magic-wise. Wanda rushed to her side, ready to provide medical care. Behind her, Mavis's gloves caught fire, and she blasted a column of flames at a large crowd of shadows cornering the Hydra. The shadows screamed and shriveled to dust.

"Thanks!"

"Thanks!"

"Thank you!" Each hydra head expressed thier gratitude. Mavis looked at her hands and shrugged. At least her newly aquired powers were good for something.

Murray kept piling sand on top of his opponents while Wayne threw stuff at them, a rock, some dirt, a stick. Both of them knew not to touch the shadows. It was a frustration for Wayne, who fought mostly by ripping his opponents throats out.

Griffith's glasses bounced around frantically, trying to avoid the shadows that swooped down at him. He tripped over a fallen suit of armor. Taken advantage of the situation, he grabbed it's swords.

"Yo!" Griffith yelled. "Wayne!" The werewolf turned and the Invisible Man tossed one of the swords at him. Wayne caught it and grinned wickedly, then was distracted by Johnathon running around screaming, the shadows at his feet. There wasn't much the human could do, having no powers or fight experience. Wayne shook his head and rejoined the fight. The human ran into Rossete, nearly knocking her over.

"What are you doing?" Rossete snapped.

"Trying not to get killed!" Johnathon gasped.

"Move aside." Johnathon gladly got out of the way, and Rossete faced the incoming slaughter of shadows.

"What did you do, give them the middle finger?" Rossete asked Johnathon crossly. Then her eyes glowed completely white. Chunks of earth were ripped from under her feet, and they swirled around her and Johnathon, forming a tornado. Rossete turned her head towards the shadows, and as soon as they hit the dirt-tornado, they screeched and dissolved. Johnathon gaped at her open-mouthed, and Rossete smirked.

"That's how it's done human." She said smugly.

In the middle of it all, Dracula was just standing there, concentrating on keeping his anger down.

_"Let go."_ A voioce whispered tauntingly.

"Get out of my head!" Dracula snarled.

Evangeline/The Boogeyman (Dracula wasn't even sure what to call her anymore) was standing at the base of the shattered crystal ball, smirking. He/she turned to Blackthorne who was standing next to his/her side, and pointed a finger at Dracula. Blackthorne nodded, and flew up, and down towards his son.

After hitting the ground, Blackthorne stood up and sneered at Dracula.

"You should have stayed dead." He snapped.

"And let you win?" Dracula hissed.

"You have no idea what's going to happen tonight. Neither did your wife, or she would've told you to die. If you really cared about your friends and remaining family, you would have listened to Raul Anul. He tried to warn you. The world will end tonight, and there's nothing you can do about it."

"You actually sound like you care about me."

"You could've been my minion! We could have ruled the world together, father and son. Mavis would be safe. You could have Martha back."

"And we would be your slaves."

Blackthorne snarled at Dracula. He took one step forward, and Frank crashed in front of him. The flesh golem was between the two vampires, blocking thier paths.

"Move, you dolt." Blackthorne sneered.

"No way." Frank responed with a glare.

"Frank, don't." Dracula pleaded.

"Go get 'em Drac." Frank didn't turn his head, but he gestured to where the Boogeyman/Evangeline was standing, which was right around where the pool deck once was. "And bring back his head for me, would you?"

"Frank-"

"I'm not changing my mind Drac. Go. I'll be fine." Frank didn't move a muscle.

Neither did Dracula.

"GO!" Frank shouted.

Dracula saw that Frank wasn't going to change his mind, and obeyed. He tapped into his super speed and ran through the battle, faster than the blink of an eye. It looked like he had just materialized in front of the Boogeyman (Dracula decided just to call him/her that before his head exploded).

"Dracula." The Boogeyman boomed. "I see your friends have admirable courage. And your daughter...perhaps she'll be as powerful as you, eh?"

"Touch my daughter and you're dead, you monster." Dracula snapped.

"I won't touch her. I thought we've established that."

Not this again. "Yeah, yeah, I'll be the one to destroy my daughter, all my friends will die at my hand, blah, blah, blah. If you think I'm actually going to kill my friends, you're wrong. I'd never hurt them."

"Not if you lose control." The Boogeyman smiled, and on Evangeline's face, it looked almost creepy.

Fear sparked inside Dracula, but he stomped it down to keep the Boogeyman from noticing.

"I won't."

"Don't be so sure. I have my ways. The phrophecy will come true, in more ways then one."

Somehow, that statement hit Dracula in the heart. He was so tired hearing about the phrophecy. Everything revolved around the phrophecy. His mother had died for the phrophecy. The Boogeyman smiled in triumph, but Dracula didn't notice.

"Shut up about the phrophecy." Dracula snapped, clenching his fists. "I'm sick of hearing about it. I'm sick of my whole life revolving around it."

"But it does." Raul Anul spread out his hands.

"That's what I hate. 'It's all about the phrophecy!' The damn phrophecy! Someone needs to figure out I don't care about the phrophecy!"

"You should." Dracula hated how calm the Boogeyman looked. "It destroyed your life for one. And when you tried to start over, you lost your wife, and the past you tried to run from came back and bit you in the rear. To be honest, I feel sorry for you."

Dracula froze. The Boogeyman felt sorry for him. The destroyer of his life actually felt sorry for him. Was Dracula really that pathetic? No. Dracula shot a fireball at Raul Anul, who dodged, panting. I'm not pathetic, I'm not pathetic, I'm not pathetic,

"So do your friends, for that matter. Why do you think they're fighting for you? You're pathetic."

"Du-te dracului!" Dracula shouted.

"No need to curse. It's all true. You couldn't even save your mother."

Dracula stopped shooting fireballs. He comprehended what the Boogeyman had just said and almost laughed.

Did Raul Anul actually think he was that stupid?

_"Not if you lose control."_

All this time, the Boogeyman was trying to get him angry. Dracula concentrated, and the fire settled into his hands.

"Oh please." Dracula snorted. "If you actually think I'm that stupid, that I'm that ignorant, you have no idea what I'm really like. You've lost, Boogeyman."

Dissapointment flared through the Boogeyman's eyes and he frowned. "Very well." He said cooly. "You want to fight me then?"

Dracula nodded, barely containing his triumph.

"Then die!" Without warning, green flames shout out of the Boogeyman and hit Dracula squarely in the chest.

Dracula hissed in pain as his stab wound began to make itself noticed, along with various other burns. He scrambled to his feet and shot a web of fire to counteract the Boogeyman's. Monsters and shadows stopped thier own fighting to watch. All that was visible were columns of red and green fire.

Desperately trying to keep the green flames at bay, Dracula took a step forward. Then another.

Facing off against Blackthorne? Yeah, not a very good idea for Frank, whose only weakness was fire.

Blackthorne seemed to be enjoying himself as he chased Frank with fireballs. Frank felt utterly useless and disgusted with himself for being so stupid. Why did he think he could take on Blackthorne? The only one who (almost) could do that was Dracula, he had seen that much during the face-off at the hotel.

Frank allowed himself to take a sideways glance, and almost froze in horror, but the fire kept him moving. In the distance, he could see Dracula and Evangeline shooting fire at eachother, and it looked like Evangeline was winning.

Oh yeah. Evangeline was the Boogeyman. Frank had almost forgotten that part. Well that was fine and dandy.

Frank dodged a few fireballs that came whizzing over his head. Growling, and crouching behind a rock, Frank desperately tried to think of an attack against Blackthorne.

He turned around, and with a grunt, heaved up the rock he was hiding behind, and threw it at Blackthorne.

Blackthorne apparantly didn't see it coming. He let out a shrill yell, right before the rock landed on his chest, knocking him to the ground, head banging against the rocky floor, right among the ashes of the hotel that Frank and his friends had stayed, laughed, and had a good time.

_If we win, we're gonna help Drac rebuilt it._ Frank thought solemnly. _He'll need it._

Frank jogged to where Mavis and Johnathon were standing. Behind them, Rossete was keeping the last of the shadows back with the help of her dirt tornado.

"Uncle Frank, what if Dad loses control?" Mavis whispered to the flesh golem.

Frank looked up at the Blood Moon right above them. The moon was the most fantastic thing he had ever seen, and if his best friend wasn't involved in a fight to the death, he would have enjoyed it.

_Happy Birthday, Drac. We'll celebrate once this is over._

Frank looked back at Mavis. "He won't."

"I hope you're right." Mavis looked away.

Uneasiness and doubt hit Frank as he considered it. What would happen if Dracula lost control?

Dracula was growing desperate. Fire and wind roared in his ears as he suddenly realized that Raul Anul could win. In fact, the Boogeyman was so close to winning that both of them could feel it.

_I need a new plan. Think. Think._

The Boogeyman grinned like maniac and the green fire bloomed to a point where it almost hit the front of the watching crowd. Monsters yelped, and backed away.

"I'm winning, Dracula." Raul Anul hissed. "What are you going to do now?"

The shield of red flames was growing weaker and weaker by the moment.

_Fight fire with fire._

_No._ Dracula was not going to tap into his true power. It had almost killed him before, and Rossete, once when he was a child, and he was trying to push himself as far as he could go. He didn't even want to remember it.

_But this isn't about you. This is about the world. If you don't defeat him, everything you know and love will die at this moment._

If desperation hadn't been so overbearing, Dracula would have realized the voice wasn't his own. But he listened to it.

Dracula carefully tuned into the power that had always lurked inside of him. Carefully, for he didn't want to overdo it, and lose control. His powers were greater with the Blood Moon, so he had to be even more careful.

The red flames began to grow. The Boogeyman's jaw clenched, and he looked strained. That boosted Dracula's confidence, and he called in more power. Dracula almost laughed aloud. He had forgotten how good ultimate power felt.

The Boogeyman still wasn't being overpowered. So Dracula concentrated, and with a boom, the red fire completely engulfed the green, and the Boogeyman was thrown on his back, into the dirt and ashes.

We won! Dracula grinned, victorious. It was all over. Dracula tried to tone down the fire, but he couldn't. Panic quickly overshadowed victory.

_No no no no._

As soon as the Boogeyman went sprawling cheers erupted. Mavis jumped up and down, hugging Johnathon. Murray, Griffith, and Wayne whooped, Wanda laughed, and Frank grinned ear-to-ear.

Dracula was still on fire, but since they had already seen him catch on fire at least twice in the past few days, that seemed all right.

"Drac, get down here man!" Murray shouted.

Nothing. Dracula's back was turned towards them, he was still on fire, but when he started to flap his arms around, the cheers died down.

Frank pushed through the crowd, Mavis and the others hot on his heels.

"Drac?!" Frank yelled nervously.

Dracula whirled around, and the panic was evident on his face. His eyes were glowing a bright red.

"Dad?" Mavis whispered.

"Run!" Dracula screamed. "Run!" His body twisted, and he began to glow. Red flames flickered around him, and the shadows turned thier attention away from Rossete to Dracula. Rossete followed their gazes, and when she saw Dracula, her eyes widened in horror.

"Vlad!" She screamed. "Don't lose control! Don't-"

Dracula screamed in pain, and all around him, things that were not alive began to float. Ashes swirled in the air, rocks hovered, and any trees that were left were ripped from thier roots and into the air. Fire bloomed in random places. Dracula glowed even brighter, and he began to hover, feet dangling in the air. Shadows hissed, and swirled around Dracula, and everyone heard thier hisses:

_"Master...master...Prince of Darkness...master..."_

"No..." The dirt tornado was still going strong as Rossete cursed. The shadows noticed her and immediately lunged at her.

Finally, Dracula's feet hit the ground, and the screaming stopped. His cape swirled around him, and his eyes were closed.

Frank swallowed, and exchanged nervous glances with his friends. Louie moaned. Mavis cautiously approached her father, and his friends eventually followed.

"Daddy?" Mavis whispered cautiously.

"Drac?" Frank waved a hand in front of Dracula's face. He recieved no response.

"Is he-okay?" Johnathon murmured.

"Frank! Mavis! Get away from him!" Rossete screamed, but her cries were lost amid the screeching of her tornado, and nobody heard her.

"Dad?" Mavis reached her hand out and touched Dracula's face.

It happened so fast that no one saw it. In a split second, Dracula had lashed out, and had Mavis by the neck.

"Drac!" Johnathon yelled panickly.

Dracula opened his eyes and to everyone's shock, they were bright red. Mavis saw them too, choking and squirming in her father's grasp.

"No..." Rossete let out a moan, knowing she was too late.

"Drac it's us." Frank said slowly, heart thumping loudly in his massive chest. "We're your friends, Drac, remember?"

"Put her down Dracula, she's your daughter, not your enemy." Wayne said carefully.

"Drac please." Johnathon begged, more worried for his zing then for Dracula.

Mavis gasped out for breath. Dracula cast his red eyes down on her, face emotionless. For a terrible moment, nothing moved.

Then, with a fluid motion, Dracula snapped his daughter's neck.

Everyone gasped in shock. Johnathon screamed, and collapsed to his knees sobbing in disbelief. Mavis's body landed at Dracula's feet, beautiful blue eyes wide in horror. Wanda let out a moan of terror and Wayne clasped her hand.

Dracula's gaze turned towards them. Then, to everyone's horror, began to advance towards them.

"Drac, it's us." Frank gasped as he and his friends began to back away.

Dracula did not stop.

"Drac don't do this!" Murray pleaded desperately.

Johnathon looked up at Dracula's imposing form but did not move. All that was running through his head, playing over and over, was Mavis's name.

"Drac stop!" Wanda screamed.

"He's gone insane!" A gremlin shrieked.

Dracula acted like he didn't hear them.

"Please Drac!" Frank begged.

With a composure much like a robot's, Dracula's hands lit up with green flames and shot a massive column of fire out at his friends and hotel guests without any sign of remorse or mercy.


	20. Endgame:Pt 3

CHAPTER 19-ENDGAME: PT. 3  
"You told me yes, you held me high,  
And I believed you when you told that lie,  
I played soldier, you played king  
And struck me down when I kissed that ring,  
You lost that right to hold that crown,  
I built you up, but you let me down,  
So when you fall I'll take my turn  
And fan the flames as your blazes burn,  
And you were there at the turn, waiting to let me know  
We're building it up to break it back down, we're building it up,  
To burn it down, we can't wait to burn it to the ground."  
-Linkin Park, 'Burn it to the Ground'

When Dracula blanked out, all he was aware of was of a voice in his head that whispered 'kill, kill,' over and over again.

He didn't need any encouragement. All he was aware of was his lust for blood, of murder.

But when something hard hit him in the head, he came to his senses with a sense that he had done something terrible.

Opening his eyes, Dracula found himself flat on his back. Rossete was standing above him, tears running down her face and a thick branch in her hand.

"Auntie?" Dracula tried to sit up, but nausea and pain hit him hard. Feeling horribly weak, Dracula studied his aunt's expression.

"You're alive! Thank god!" Rossete clung to him, hugging him and sobbing. A sense of dread flooded through Dracula, as he realized something was horribly wrong.

"Aunt Rosy?"

"Oh, god, I thought I lost you too!" Rossete pulled away from him, holding head so that it firmly faced her. "We need to go. Now."

"What?" Dracula tried to look around her, but Rossete purposely blocked his view.

"Let him see what he has done." A smug voice said. It was the Boogeyman's. Dracula's brow furrowed at the sound of his voice, but something about this scene was eerily familiar. With a start, he realized what it was. Silently pleading that it wasn't true, it couldn't be true, Dracula looked down at his hands and cried out.

His hands were covered with blood.

Rossete bit her lip, fighting down absolute panic. "Drac." She said as if she was talking to a toddler. "Drac we need to go. Now."

Dracula shoved her off of him, and as soon as he saw the sight in front of him, he let out a moan of despair. His friends, his hotel guests were sprawled out all over the ground in front of him. Thier eyes were wide open, and thier hands were in front of them, as if fending of an attack. Some of thier bodies were extremely burned, and others it looked like thier necks were snapped.

"No!" Dracula screamed as he sluggishly stood up. He stumbled across the massacre, taking in one dead body after another, trying not to throw up. He tripped over an invisible body. When he looked down, he saw blood staining midair, which must have been the body of none other the Invisble Man.

Just like in his vision.

Wanda, Wayne, and thier cubs were all piled on top of eachother. Thankfully, Wanda hadn't been pregnant for once, for killing an unborn child would have been the straw that would have broken Dracula completely, if he wasn't broken already.

Dracula passed Murray, who had been sliced to pieces, along with the disembodied suits of armor. Eunice and Frank's bodies were charred beyond recognition, and Dracula gagged at the sight of them, fighting down bile that threatened to rise up into his throat and out of his mouth. Johnathon's face had been severely burned, and in one hand, he was clutching Mavis's.

Mavis.

Stumbling, knees shaking like an old man's, Dracula fell on the ground and cradled the broken body of his daughter, weeping. Her neck had been cracked, and her head hung unnaturally at her back. Kissing her forehead, Dracula sobbed, his tears staining her hair.

"Oh Mavy-Wavy, I am so sorry." Dracula moaned. "And-I-I-promised Mommy I would protect you..."

Monster. Devil's child. Demon. Now he could add murderer to the list.

"Such a pity." The Boogeyman sighed. Raul Anul had picked himself off the ground where Dracula had thrown him. "I warned you you know. I tried to keep this from happening. But you had to come."

"Don't talk to me!" Dracula snarled as he faced the Boogeyman. Mavis's body still in his arms. "YOU did this!" Dracula raged.

"I did not." The Boogeyman said cooly. "You did."

Dracula swore at him foully, and the Boogeyman sighed. "If you want..." He said. "I could bring them all back."

"Right." Tears still running down his face, Dracula gave the Boogeyman his fiercest glare.

"It's true. Don't you know I have power over the dead? I can save them. And when they wake up, they won't remember a thing."

Dracula's eyes narrowed, but doubt was starting to take over. He had no reason to trust the Boogeyman, but...?

Rossete noticed the doubt, and shook her head. "No Vladislav." She said firmly. "You won't."

Dracula spun around and faced his aunt. "Could he do it?" Dracula asked frantically.

His aunt bit her lip. "Yes." She said finally, reluctantly. "But he's not to be trusted. You know that..." Rossete froze when she saw her nephew's expression. She cursed silently. Dracula did know better. But he would do anything to salvage what he had lost. He had already lost too much.

"Dracula." Rossete said frantically. "Vladdie, don't do it. Everything comes with a price. Especially favors with Raul Anul!"

"I don't have anything left to lose." Dracula said cooly.

"You will! You can't change fate without a sacrifice!"

Rossete realized her mistake once Dracula turned his glare on her.

"Fate?" He said quietly. "You mean the future?"

Rossete was silent.

"You knew this would happen."

"Vladdie..."

"You knew this would all happen, and you let it. You let them all die. If you had warned me..."

"Vladislav, you don't understand."

"SHUT UP!" Rossete reeled backwards. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!"

"The more you try and change the future..." Rossete sighed. "The more likely it is to come true. We both know that."

Dracula shook with anger. He looked down at his daughter's body, and turned back to the Boogeyman.

"I'll do it."

"Vladislav, are you insane?" Rossete almost screamed.

"Wonderful!" The Boogeyman smirked. "Now let me ask you this: Are you accepting my help because you want to, or have to?"

"What do you think?" Dracula growled. "I don't have time for games. Bring them back. Now!"

Raul Anul shrugged. Then Evangeline's body began to sway, and the murmuring began.

_"Viata pentru viata, incolui..."_

Mavis's body tremored, and her neck straightened with a 'crack.' Dracula looked at Frank and Eunice, and saw that thier burns were healing. Murray and the suits of armor were slowly getting put back together, and the blood staining midair was starting to fade.

"It's working..." Dracula whispered.

"Vladdie, this is unnatural! Tell him to stop!" Rossete screamed.

"_Schimba soarta a blestement, timpul inversat..."_

Dracula felt a burning pain in his chest, barely noticable at first, but as the Boogeyman's mumbling grew, so did the pain. Dracula winced, and the wince turned into a moan.

"Stop!" Rossete hurled a stone at the Boogeyman, but completely missed. She stumbled to her knees and began to writhe.

The murmuring stopped. Anxiously, Dracula slowly held a finger in front of Mavis's nose. He felt a short puff of breath expel onto it. Dracula smiled in joy. He looked around.  
Everyone was either healed, or put back together. There were no trace of blood and burns. Dracula almost couldn't believe it.

"Aunt Rosy look!" Dracula glanced excitedly at Rossete, but the excitement soon faded as he noticed his aunt was sprawled out on the ground, not moving.

"Auntie?" Dracula set Mavis down gently and crawled to his aunt. It was hard to move, because his body was sore from his injuries. When he managed to reach Rossete, he held her head in his lap and put his finger in front of her nose, much like what he did with Mavis.

Nothing. No puff of air. No slight motion. Rossete didn't even look asleep. She looked...

Dead.

"No..." Dracula squeezed his aunt's hand. "No no no..." Dracula whipped his head around to face Raul Anul who had appeared right behind him, smirking.

"What did you do?!" Dracula snarled.

"Your aunt was right." The Boogeyman said simply. "Everything comes with a price."

Dracula flashed back to the mumbling that had brought his friends back to life.

_ "Viata pentru viata..."_

_ Life for lives..._

"Of course, one life is not a fair cost for many lives." The Boogeyman continued. "So I made sure the bargain was complete." Out of nothing, the Boogeyman conjured a mirror and handed it to Dracula. Snatching it rudely out of the air, Dracula looked at his reflection.

The first thing he noticed was that he actually had a reflection. While he got over the shock of that, Dracula noticed that his eyes were a different color. Or rather, colors. They flickered from blue, to red, to pitch black. Just like the Boogeyman's.

"Your heart is forever tied to darkness." Raul Anul declared. "I will decide when and how you'll die. Just like your father before you, just like Evangeline Trandafir, as well as the infamous Viktor Frankenstein. You always wondered what happened to him, didn't you?" The Boogeyman sounded pleased. "Don't you remember? 'The side of which the chosen contends?'"

Dracula realized what the Boogeyman meant. Raul Anul had played him. He had manipulated Dracula into giving into his dark side, knowing that Dracula would lose control and kill his friends. And when Dracula had begged the Boogeyman to bring him back, Dracula had unknowingly gave himself to darkness. He was magically tied to the Boogeyman now, doomed to serve him. As long as he had a heart, he would be forced to obey the Boogeyman's every whim.

As long as he had a heart...

Dracula stood up shakily and dropped Rossete's hand. He turned to the Boogeyman, who was looking triumphant.

"I win." Raul Anul said.

"No." Dracula replied. "Not yet."

With that, he tore into his chest, and ripped out his own heart.

Horror quickly replaced victory on the Boogeyman's face. "What are you doing?" He shouted angrily.

"I'd rather die then be your servant." Dracula said shakily, ignoring the hole in his chest.

The ground trembled. The Boogeyman looked up and saw the Blood Moon swelling bigger and bigger. It grew so massive that it covered the sky, covering the world with a bright red glow. Later, astronomers would be baffled at the events that occured on Blood Moon's night, and would desperately try to put the pieces together to figure it out. The moon grew so large, that it literally exploded, shattering into a thousand pieces.

"What have you done?!' Raul Anul screamed.

"I gave the world time." Dracula whispered. "This world won't end tonight. I'll make sure of it. Go back to where you came from. Monster."

"You'll regret this!" The Boogeyman raged. "You may have delayed the phrophecy, but will come back to haunt you! You have no idea what you have done!"

"Bleh-bleh-bleh." Dracula said tiredly. "We're done here."

Raul Anul scowled, and with a flash of light, he was gone, taking Evangeline and Blackthorne with him.

As soon as they were gone, Dracula collapsed next to Rossete's body.

A/N-Okay, I went through and edited some of the previous chapters, so that they're easier to read. I know they're a little hard to read, so I'm going to take this oppurtunity to thank whoever ignored the crappy format and read this story anyway. This may be a two-part series, as I don't want it to end like this. There are a few more chapters coming though, so stay tuned. Review please.


	21. No Going Back

CHAPTER 20-NO GOING BACK  
"Save your twisted enemy, so you might earn forgiveness,  
You know you whole world is waiting, so why can't you speak?  
I can feel it coming over me, I'm still a slave to these dreams  
Is this the end of everything? Or just a new way to bleed?  
So go and tell all your friends that I'm a failure underneath if it makes you feel like a bigger man  
But it's my heart, my life, that you're calling a lie,  
I've played this game before, and I can't take it anymore."  
-Evanescence, 'New Way to Bleed'

The funeral was short.

Dracula was too beaten up to attend, but to be honest, everyone was glad he wasn't there. He had been through the mill enough as it was. As the zombies lowered Rossete's coffin into the ground, Frank did his best not to start bawling again. Surrounded by monsters (and a human) all dressed in black, he didn't want to draw even more attention to himself then he already was.

The coffin hit the bottom of the hole with a thud. Mavis wiped at the black mascara that was running underneath her eyes. Johnathon squeezed her gloveless hand. Thankfully for the couple, since the Blood Moon, Mavis had aquired control over her newfound powers. If Dracula had, no one was sure. No one was sure what had happened on the night of the Blood Moon. The story was the same for everyone except Dracula-they had somehow blacked out, and when they had woken up, they were lying among the ashes of Hotel Transylvania, Blackthorne and the Boogeyman were gone, Rossete was dead, and Dracula was lying next to her body, unconscious and with a hole in his chest. When he had woken up, he hadn't once mentioned the Blood Moon. He hadn't mentioned anything, really. The Fly had declared that Dracula was in a temporary catonic state, probably caused by the events of the ill-fated Blood Moon.

As the first clod of dirt hit the coffin, Frank was reminded of Martha's funeral. Of course, her body was lost in the fire that had destroyed the Draculas' castle year ago, but it hadn't stopped them from having a memorial service. It was horrible. and so was this one. Frank didn't know a single funeral that wasn't horrible.

After Rossete was buried, her gravestone was set into the ground, and the mourners gone, Frank, Mavis, and Johnathon set off to check on Dracula. They went back into Rossete's mansion and found thier way to Dracula's door. Wayne, Griffith, and Murray were already there. Wayne nodded at them, and Frank knocked at Dracula's door.

"Drac?" Frank called softly.

Nothing.

"Lemme try." Johnathon pushed past Frank. "Dracula." Johnathon rapped his fingers against the door. When that got no response, he tried again.

Knock knock.

"Drac."

Nothing.

Knock knock.

"Drac."

Nothing

Knock knock.

"Drac."

Nothing.

Knock knock.

"Oh for the love of-" Wayne shoved Johnathon out of the way and kicked down the door. His friends stared at him.

"What?" Wayne asked a little sheepishly.

"Nothing." Murray replied.

"Dad?" Mavis stepped into the room. Frank followed her and took in the sight of the room. It looked completely undisturbed, like it was some sort of window display used for showy purposes only, where the bed had never been slept on, the carpet had never been stepped on, or the bookcase had never been touched. That was the problem. Last they had seen him, Dracula had been lying in bed in a stupor. The carpet had been wrinkled, and the books scattered everywhere. The witch maid could have been here, if she hadn't been at the funeral the whole time.

"He's gone." Griffith said.

"No kidding Einstein." Murray snapped.

"What's this?" All eyes turned to Mavis, who picked up something that was lying on the bed. She held it out for her friends to see.

It was a necklace. It had a black chain holding a round, red stone that resembled a full moon.

Frank flashed back to the Blood Moon. After he had blacked out and woken up, the moon was gone from the sky. He hadn't realized this until that moment.

"It looks like the Blood Moon." Johnathon whispered, touching the necklace's stone tenatively.

"But what does it mean?" Griffith questioned.

Dracula's heart was gone. That meant he shouldn't feel emotions. He should be lying back in bed, eyes glazed, dead to the world. He shouldn't be feeling anything.

So why was guilt tearing him up inside?

Maybe it was because he had taken his own heart. Pulling it from his pocket, Dracula stared at his unbeating heart. It was blackened, all shriveled up. It looked disgusting. Why was he even alive? Dracula wasn't sure how the whole 'pulling-out-peoples'-hearts' thing worked, but if his heart was shriveling up, then what was keeping him alive?

Out of curiousity, Dracula unwrapped the bandages around his chest, and placed his hand over the healing hole.

And froze.

Slowly, unbelieving, he felt for his heartbeat that shouldn't be there. But he felt it. It was there, even though his heart was sitting in his hands. As Dracula looked down on it, it began to tremble. Slightly panicking, Dracula had no idea what to do as his heart further blackened, crumbled, and shriveled to dust.

Feeling his heartbeat again, Dracula thought of the necklace he had left in his room. He had found it in his pocket after he had woken up. Now he had a new heart too. Out of nowhere, he heard a soft voice.

_"It's not over. I will hunt you down and destroy you, even if I have to go through the entire world to get to you."_

Dracula believed it.

Every single word.

A/N-Wow, it feels like the end, huh? That's why I can't decide whether to publish the second part of this in this story or into a whole other story. What do you think? Let me know by reviews!


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